Inverted Sky: Kingdom Hearts I
by Ice Prince Hitsugaya
Summary: A retelling of Kingdom Hearts where Sora is not only the natural born wielder of the Kingdom Key-D, but is also a girl. Join her on the quest of a lifetime to save the worlds from darkness and witness the epic tale once again as it has never been told before. Continued on in Inverted Sky: KH Chain of Memories
1. Dive into the Heart

**Inverted Sky**

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 **Disclaimer: I don't anything, only this retelling of the Kingdom Hearts story.**

 **Kingdom Hearts is owned by Square Enix** **and Tetsuya Nomura, please support the official release.**

 **This story idea was made possible by Bighead98, I hope you all enjoy.**

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Chapter 1: Dive into the Heart

Falling, forever falling into the dark and silent abyss. No bottom nor walls could be seen by the lone figure as they continued descending through the empty space. As their fall began to slow, the figure's body turned itself slightly, only for them to land their boot covered feet onto a dark surface that couldn't be seen. Though there was only complete darkness as the solitary person looked around themselves. However, the moment they took a single step forward, the strange floor beneath them suddenly blazed away in a large circle of black fire, revealing a large circular platform.

This revealing a stained-glass image of a young black-haired girl wearing a blue and yellow dress. Yet around the top half of this were seven circles that each held the picture of what looked like elder men with various different expressions. Though as the figure looked at all of this, the light coming off of this platform revealed them to be a young, blue-eyed teenage girl with shoulder-length, spiky brown hair.

She had on a black hoodie that was blue on the inside and had white sleeves, of which ended in grey edging. Under this however was a tight, zip-up, red shirt that had a small silver zipper. She also wore white gloves that had blue, black and yellow straps around them. For her lower half, she had a pair of blue bike shorts that reached a few inches above her knees, of which were under a shorter red skirt. There was a crown-chain seen on her left side and a loosely worn, blue belt around the skirt, plus a crown pendant around her neck. Her shoes were narrow and boot-like in shape, while their coloring consisted mainly of yellow and black with belt-straps holding them closed.

As this girl looked around, she noticed that aside from this platform, there was nothing but blackness all around. However, the moment she took another step forward, she immediately stopped when a voice was heard in both within her mind and through her ears.

" _So much to do, so little time. Take your time and don't be afraid."_

There was a short pause after these words, to which it soon continued as the girl kept looking around as if to find the source of this voice.

" _The door is still shut. Now step forward."_

Seconds after this was 'heard', the girl took a few steps forward. Yet this was quickly followed by the appearance of three different platforms around her, each one holding a different object. The one on her right held a strange staff, the one on her left brought forth a large gem shaped shield, while the last directly before her had a long, double edged sword. Just as the teen looked between each of the objects, she heard the voice once more, it being strangely non-threatening considering how mysterious it was.

" _There is power sleeping within you, if you give it form...it will give you strength. Choose well."_

Though the girl narrowed her eyes, she eventually walked forward and gripped at the staff. Her giving a small smile to it as she always enjoyed the thought of using magic like a real wizard. Yet she soon blinked many times as the staff suddenly disappeared in a burst of black fire. This causing her to quickly check her head over for any possible burns, yet found nothing and soon calmed down once more.

" _You have chosen the power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin."_

" _However...you must give something up in exchange."_

But as she glanced between the other two objects, she let out a silent breath and walked toward the sword. Her knowing that she would always need a shield to protect herself and others, so she figured that she wouldn't really need a sword. Though she briefly hesitated due to her confusion of why she was doing this in the first place, she took the object into one of her gloved hands.

" _You have given up the power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A weapon of terrible destruction. Your path has been set."_

Just then, the remaining objects and the empty platforms suddenly vanished into darkness. Though this shocked the girl slightly, she remained silent and just blinked to all this in confusion.

" _You have obtained the ability to protect yourself and others. Use this power any way you choose, but know that there will always be times that you must fight."_

The teen looked around the area once more as the platform she stood on suddenly began to shatter till she was left falling once again. Though this time, rather than complete darkness, she could see another platform down below her. Of which she was drawn toward, as if by an invisible guiding force. This stained-glass depicting another young girl, but this one had long brown hair with a long blue and white dress.

As soon as the girl landed on her feet, she looked around once again as could feel the presence of someone, or something coming toward her. It was the very moment she looked to her right that she saw a small black creature with large yellow eyes and two long antennas on the top of its head. She stared in a confused manner at the creature as it didn't seem very intimidating from its size.

" _Weaker dwellers of darkness such as these can be controlled. However, if you wish to control more powerful beings of darkness, you yourself must first become strong in both power and will. Otherwise they will not heed your order and may even attack you."_

Not long after these words were heard, the creature disappeared, yet in its place, five more suddenly came up from shadows on the floor. This sparking for the girl to back up slightly, yet not long afterward, the same staff she had chosen moments ago appeared in her right hand. She blinked at this for a moment before gaining a small smirk and quickly rushing toward the creatures with her new weapon at the ready.

The girl came right up to the first being of darkness and slashed it with her blade, to which it suddenly disbursed into black smoke. She raised a brow briefly to this, yet she quickly turned and kicked another creature as it leapt toward her. This blow knocking it clear off the platform and into the abyss below. Though the teen soon gained a wider smirk on her features and quickly dispatched of the last three with the same number of swings from her staff.

" _You have proven yourself to be strong, now those whom have witnessed it will be at your beckon call."_

As soon as this was said, several other creatures appeared around the girl and immediately bowed their heads to her slightly. This making her look at them in confusion once more as she seemed more embarrassed than anything. Though before she could say or do anything further, the strange voice continued on once more.

" _But know this, they will not obey a master who is weak. So keep up your strength and always stay alert."_

To this, the girl simply nodded her head lightly in response as if she were being taught by a teacher or one of her parents. Though she soon blinked in shock as the creatures sunk into the floor and caused it to turn completely black. This darkness quickly beginning to swallow her, causing the girl to panic and quickly try to get free. But it was to no avail as she was soon completely consumed in the black hole. Though while she thrashed about, she closed her eyes to what might await, yet when she opened them, she found herself in another location.

She was on yet another stained-glass platform, yet it wasn't what was depicted on it that intrigued her. It was the large set of doors on the far end of the platform. The girl stared at it for a brief few seconds before walking toward it. Though when she came within a few feet of it, the doors began to open and reveal a swirl of darkness from the other side. But as she walked through, there seemed to be nothing but a dark void, yet she soon heard the voice once more.

" _The door won't open just yet."_

" _First...tell me about yourself."_

" _What are you afraid of?"_

As the girl looked up, she closed her eyes and spoke out in a silent voice; "I'm afraid of being indecisive."

" _What's most important to you?"_

"My friends." she responded as her voice began to sound more confident.

" _What do you want out of life?"_

"I want..." she began before looking down in thought for a moment; "...to see rare sites." she finished as she looked back up with a small smile.

" _Your journey begins now, keep a steady heart and go forth."_

Though as soon as this was heard, the darkness around the girl began to lift and reveal her on yet another stained-glass platform. This one having a blond girl in a purple dress, yet there were strange black thorns on either side of her. But moments later, another group of creatures appeared all around her, there being twice as many as last time.

Yet she didn't appear frightened as she kept her staff in hand and slashed them each down within moments. This leading for a set of stairs to appear on the far end of the platform, which lead up to yet another one out in the distance. The girl soon rushed to and up these stairs as she seemed rather interested and excited about what would come next. Though this was soon answered as the voice once again echoed in her ears and mind.

" _But the further into darkness you sink, the greater the foes who will oppose you."_

Immediately following this, the girl turned around to see her own shadow growing in length before it suddenly materialized out of the floor. Which made her completely miss the brown-haired girl with a yellow dress upon the glass, her sole focus being on this shadow creature as she slowly backed away.

It transforming into a massive, muscular, humanoid being with black skin. Its legs were rather short and its feet appeared very thin, yet they also curled upward. The arms however, were quite long, while two relatively small, twisted wings could barely be seen on its back. There was a large, heart-shaped hole in its abdominal area, which penetrated straight through from the front to the back. Its head looked as though it were covered in dozens of twisted, black tentacles with only its small, glowing yellow eyes being visible.

This bizarre creature had the girl quite frightened as she didn't believe this was something that could exist, much less be something she would be able to handle. Yet the voice once again returned as if to urge her on in her time of need.

" _But do not be afraid."_

Though this was short, the teen slowly closed her eyes as she stopped backing away. Her feeling a great amount of strength and courage rush up thought her as she snapped her eyes open to look at he approaching beast. The girl soon readied her weapon out in front of her with a new found confidence in herself. She then gained a small smirk once more and immediately charged at her opponent.

Though unlike her other foes, she was only able to attack the creature's hands since she was too small to hit much else. But her eyes had great determination in them as she used her staff to hit the monster and even the smaller creatures it summoned. Despite not knowing the reason why she felt like she could fight this beast, the girl continued on believing that she could win.

Her fight went on for many minutes, but she soon made one final slash at the creature, which caused it fall forward. Only to catch itself by slamming its fists into the floor. The girl soon jumped back as the creature brought up it's hands and hit them right where she had been standing a split second ago. But she soon fell over as the floor began to turn to darkness once more. This made her eyes widen, yet she soon started to calm herself, even as the darkness began to surround her once more.

" _Yes...that's right. Don't be afraid."_

" _Darkness is also your weapon. Though you also have the mightiest weapon of all."_

" _So don't forget: You are the one who will open the door."_

Was the last the girl heard from this voice as her eyes snapped open and a surge of darkness came forth from her body and disbursed everything like mere smoke in the wind. This caused everything to go black and for the girl to sink into darkness once more. Yet the next thing she knew, the sound of the ocean filled her ears.


	2. Destiny Islands part I

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 2: Destiny Islands part 1

As her eyes slowly opened, a bright sun in a clear blue sky shined down from above. Yet as the girl sat herself up, she yawned lightly before just laying right back down with a huff. But the moment she did, her heart jumped briefly as she saw the face of a friend right above her.

"Whoa!" she yelped out before giggling lightly and turning herself over to make it easier to stand herself up.

Though she settled on her knees as the girl before her just smiled widely with her own giggle. This girl had auburn colored hair, crystal blue eyes and wore a black top, with a white one over it. The black one only being seen at her collarbone and at the hem of her over shirt, yet they both slightly exposes her navel. She also wore a set of purple biker shorts, which were under a short skirt of the same color. This was fitted with a blue belt, while she had a pair of white slip-on shoes that had purple caps. Lastly, she had a black choker, a yellow wristband on her left wrist and a pair of yellow and black bracelets on her right one.

"Gimme a break, Kairi." the brown-haired girl said with a chuckle.

All the while, Kairi just grinned wider to her and placed her hands on her sides; "Sora you lazy bum, I knew I'd find you snoozing down here." Kairi said with an amused tone.

"What can I say? Doing nothing all day really takes it out of you." Sora said with a small grin as she stood up slowly.

Though she soon tilted her head up in thought as she recalled what she just experienced; "I wonder what that place was...so bizarre." she muttered to herself before looking back to Kairi as she spoke up.

"What was what place?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

"Oh nothing, just a dream." Sora said as she soon stood herself up and stretched her limbs.

'Or at least I'm pretty sure it was a dream.' she thought briefly with a thoughtful expression on her features.

"Hmm?" the auburn-haired girl hummed out as she looked to her friend for a moment before shrugging and walking to the edge of the water.

"Well...whatever." she continued silently, her looking out at the waves as they crashed many yards away before reaching the shore.

"Speaking of places...I really hope we get to go out there and see all sorts of worlds." Sora began as she walked up beside Kairi, to which said girl looked over to her with a tilt of her head.

"I can't wait to explore everything that's out there. Maybe even the place where you grew up." she added, to which the girl next to her blinked a few times before nodding in agreement.

"I'm sure the place you grew up had to have been different from this one, right?" she finished as she looked at her friend with a small smirk.

"I already told you, I don't remember anything about it. But I'm sure we'll find out together if we ever get to visit it." Kairi said silently, though from her expression, Sora could tell there was likely something she wasn't telling her.

"Really? You still don't remember anything at all?" the brown-haired girl asked, her leaning forward slightly in a slightly expecting way.

Though before Kairi could answer, she was interrupted by a voice directly behind them; "Hey, aren't you two forgetting about me? And by extension...the raft we're supposed to be building together?"

As they turned around, they saw a young teenager with pale skin, bright blue-green eyes and somewhat long silver colored hair. He had on a vest that had a yellow collar and front, while the back and sides were black. The vest itself had two ebony, crisscrossing straps that went over his chest and upper back. These having a white trim and were held in place by a white stud on each end. He also wore black and grey gloves, which only reached up to the base of his thumb. All the while having tight black bracelets that he had on just above each of his wrists.

He also had on a black belt with a silver rectangular buckle, which was worn high on his waist and secured his dark blue-gray pants. His pants themselves were mostly covered by blue wading pants, these being held up by black straps that looked almost identical to the ones on his vest. The wading pants were tightened at the ankle with small black belts just above his white and blue shoes. These having yellow strings on the inner sides that crisscrossed each other, two black straps with white trim, and grey soles.

"Or do you plan on leaving it all to me? Again?" this boy questioned with a raised brow and sigh of exasperation.

"Sorry Riku, I guess we should be working on it together." Sora said with a shrug as she let out her own sigh.

"Then we better get moving on collecting the supplies, we've only got a few more hours before sun down." Kairi said to her friends before she soon gained a wide grin.

"I'll race you~!" she continued as she appeared rather excited.

"What? Are you kidding?" Riku asked with a roll of his eyes as he crossed his arms.

"Ready? Go!" Kairi called out quickly, to which both Sora and Riku made brief eye contact before immediately running down the shore line.

This making Kairi giggle and jog after them as the two treated this race just like all the rest of their competitions, with their score of wins, ties and losses. Though as they reached the end of the beach, the two ended up in a draw and breathed deeply in exhaustion.

"Looks like..it's..12-43-11." the brown-haired girl muttered with a small grin as it was clear she had the most wins.

"Don't think..you'll have..that lead..for long." Riku said between each breath as a small smirk spread on his features.

"He he..don't think..I'll be giving it up..any time soon." Sora said back, to which they slumped down on the sand and sat across from one another.

After a few moments of catching their breath, Kairi finally caught up and just giggled at the exhausted state the two were in. "Alright...we just need a few things to complete it." she said as she looked to the large wooden raft on the shoreline.

It was about two and a half yards long, while being one and a half yards wide. Though there was a spot in the center that was a clear indication for a possible sail to be placed. As Kairi came walking closer to it, the other two slowly got back to their feet and followed her.

"We'll just need a couple logs...some cloth and a bit of rope. That should be all we'll need to finish the mast...then it'll be ready for sailing." the auburn-haired girl said with a nod of her head as she continued to look over the raft.

"Alright...I'll go and get the logs." Riku said before rushing off.

"I guess I'll get the rest." Sora said with a shrug as she ran to retrieve the other items.

Though it was less than ten minutes before the two returned with the proper objects, it wasn't until the sun was almost completely set that the mast was finished and placed on the raft. This leading for the three to let out an exasperated breath before heading over to the small piece of land just west of the larger island. Them being connected by a long wooden bridge, which was just outside of a small hut on the larger piece of land.

Upon arriving, they each took the usual places they chose to relax after either a hard day's work or a fun time playing. While Sora and Kairi sat on a horizontally growing palm tree, Riku simply leaned against the base on their left. All of them simply watching the sun go down as the sky behind them began to darken for the night.

"So...Kairi's home is somewhere out there, right?" Sora asked silently as she glanced from said girl over to Riku.

Whom shrugged briefly and shook his head; "Maybe...but we'll never know by staying here." he said silently as his arms were folded across his chest.

"But I doubt a raft would be able to take us all the way there." Sora added silently before looking down in thought.

"I guess we'll just have to see how far we'll be able to go with it." she continued with a shrug, her then placing an elbow against the trunk of the tree and rested her cheek in her palm.

"Yeah...and if we have to, we'll just think of something else once we get to a new world." Riku said as he uncrossed his arms and pushed himself off of the tree.

"Hmm...well, suppose we do get to another world..." Kairi started with a small smile and light giggle.

"...what would you do there?" she finished with a short tilt of her head in question.

"Actually...I'm not really too sure, I haven't really thought about it." he said with a brief shrug, him placing his hands on his sides.

"I mean...I've always been wondering why we're here on this island. After all...if there are other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one?" Riku continued as he narrowed his eyes slightly on the horizon.

"We could have ended up on some other world just as easily as this one, right? And plus...with so many possible worlds out there, then ours is just a small piece of something much greater." he said silently as he smirked lightly with a glint of determination in his eyes.

"So that's why we need to go out there and find out...sitting around doing the same thing every day won't change a thing." Riku finished as he took in and let out a deep breath.

"Sounds like you've been doing a lot of thinking lately." Kairi muttered with a small smirk on her features as she looked to her silver-haired friend.

"It's all thanks to you really." said boy said as he turned to the auburn-haired girl.

"If you hadn't come here...I probably wouldn't have thought about any of this. So...thank you, Kairi." he continued with a grateful smile curling his lips.

This made Kairi just smile wider and nod her head in response; "You're welcome." she said with a quick giggle at the start.

"Well, we better head home for today." Sora said as she slipped down from the tree and stretched lightly, to which her two friends nodded in agreement.

They then started walking back across the wooden bridge that lead back to the larger piece of land. However, as Sora reached halfway, Riku called out her name and tossed a yellow, star-shaped fruit to her. Though the girl turned around quick enough to catch this, she blinked a few times in question upon looking at it. "A Paopu fruit?" she muttered silently with a raised brow.

"You wanted one, didn't you?" Riku began as he started to walk past her.

"If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain apart of each other's lives, no matter what." he continued as he kept on walking, to which Sora just blinked at him once more.

"Come on...I know you wanna try it." the silver-haired boy finished before starting to laugh and run quickly toward the dock with their boats.

Him able to tell, without even turning around to look, that Sora took on a deep blush on her cheeks before tossing the fruit into the water. This lead for her to quickly chase after her friend as he knew that he embarrassed her with the fruit's meaning. Of which allowed them to quickly catch up with Kairi as she kept going despite their brief talk. The three then reached their boats and began their row back to the main island together.

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well, despite it being much later in the day than the last one. I forgot to mention before that this story is going to be a weekly update. I'll be posting new chapters every Monday. Though if I get delayed, it shouldn't be any later than Wednesday. Anyway, leave a review letting me know what you think and I'll see you all next week. ;)


	3. Destiny Islands part II

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 3: Destiny Islands part 2

Upon arriving on the island the next day, Sora glanced around and saw three other teenagers around her age playing on the beach. She tilted her head briefly to this, as despite them being there yesterday, she didn't notice them at all. Though she soon took on a smirk and walked over to the first one, whom was a young girl with brown hair. Of which was styled into one large curl on the back of her head and two more on either side. She wore a yellow dress with overall straps and a large pocket on the chest, a pair of brown-colored sandals and a blue beaded bracelet on her left wrist.

"Hey Selphie, how's it going?" Sora asked to the girl with a wave and a small smile.

This drew the other girl's attention, to which she turned to Sora with her piercing green eyes and returned her smile. "Hey Sora...I'm doing fine. Though what about you? I didn't get to talk to you yesterday, did something happen?" she greeted and she placed the jump rope in her right hand behind her back.

"Not really, the same old stuff...Riku, Kairi and I were busy with the raft." Sora said with another smile as she placed her hands behind her head.

"You three still doin' that?" a boy's voice spoke up from behind Selphie.

This teen had a orange hair, which was tied up with a large blue bandanna. He wore baggy yellow pants that close up halfway down his lower legs, while each leg of the pants had a large, grey, "X"-shaped strap with blue tips. He also had on a tank top that was a pale yellow color with black lining, plus a pair of green sandals and blue wristbands on each wrist. His brown eyes looked to Sora as a small smirk spread on his features, to which he spun a blue and white ball on one of his fingers.

"You guys ought to do something better with your time." he continued as he stopped spinning the ball and rested it between his hand and hip.

"Oh~? Are you suggesting another three-on-three, Wakka?" Sora questioned with a small smirk.

"Now way!" another boy's voice came up from the other side of Selphie.

He had messy sandy blond hair, blue eyes and had a fighting stick on his back with his arms hanging over each end. The boy had on a small, yellow, short-sleeved shirt with white sleeves, yellow hems and white lining around the center. He also wore navy-colored pants that had uneven legs, with the right reaching past his knee and the other barely reached his mid thigh. There was also a small scar on his right cheek that he always had a new story for of how he got it.

"When it's just you and Riku on a team...none of us ever stand a chance." he continued as he flipped the fighting stick off his back and swung it briefly in his right hand.

"Are you kidding me Tidus? Riku took all of us on at once and we couldn't beat him, it doesn't matter who is on his team." Selphie added with a shrug of her shoulders.

"She's gotta point." Wakka said with a light sigh, which sparked for the other two to sigh as well.

Sora raised a brow to each of them them briefly before looking up and tapping her chin. "Alright, how about this...I'll fight all of you at once. Whoever can land a blow on me first will have dibs on being Riku's partner for our next competition." she said with a small smirk spreading on her features.

Immediately following these words, each of the other teens looked to one another before nodding and rushing at Sora. This just made said girl chuckle as she ducked and rolled out of the way from their initial attacks, to which she quickly pulled out the wooden sword from her side. She then knocked the ball Wakka threw at her right back to him, which nearly hit him in the face as he caught it.

Yet Sora had to stay on guard as Tidus circled around to her right, while Selphie went to her left. Though as the blond boy swung his stick toward his opponent, she quickly blocked it with her own weapon. However, the other girl soon whipped her jump rope at Sora, which lead for said teen to side step out of the way and cause it to hit Tidus instead.

This created a brief opening for Sora, to which she immediately grabbed the other end of the jump rope before it could return to its owner, and pulled Selphie toward her instead. All the while, Wakka threw his ball at Sora once more, yet she simply deflected it to hit the other brown-haired girl instead. Which left the tan-skinned boy wide open for the attack Sora hit him with as he tried to apologize to Selphie.

After this, Sora placed her wooden sword on her shoulder and looked to the three as they groaned lightly from a bit of pain "Is that all you guys got? You'll never catch up to Riku or me at this rate." she said with a small grin on her features.

Though after these words, each of the three glance to one another once more and charged forward all at once. Yet within a few moments, the trio were laying on the sandy beach breathing heavily from their overwhelming loss. "Don't worry guys...you've definitely gotten better." Sora said with an encouraging tone and smile.

Both of which made all of them immediately feel much better, though none of the three could ever explain why she always had such an effect on people. It being like she could just cheer anyone up simply by believing in them. Though after waving to each of her friends in farewell, Sora head off down the beach to meet up with Riku and Kairi, both of whom were waiting for her.

"About time, what kept ya?" Riku asked with a raised brow and tilt of his head.

"Nothing...just saying 'Hi' to our other friends." Sora responded as she gestured behind her as if pointing at Selphie, Tidus and Wakka.

"Oh yeah...I forgot how much we'll be missing them." Kairi spoke up silently as she looked down in thought.

"And not just them...but each of our families as well." she continued, her expression turning to one of uncertainty.

"Don't worry Kairi...we can always come back here to visit." Sora began with a small smile to her.

"No matter how far we are in distance...our hearts will always bring us together." she finished as she placed a hand over where her heart is, as if to further her words.

This made Kairi immediately smile and nod in response, though Riku just chuckled and nudged Sora with his elbow. "When did you get all mushy? I thought you're supposed to be the 'tomboy' type." he said with an amused tone.

"Oh whatever! Are we gonna gather what we need for the trip or not?" Sora said quickly as she looked to the side with a slight flush on her cheeks.

"Right..." Kairi started as she pulled out a small piece of paper that was hanging on her blue belt; "...we'll need a few seagull eggs, some coconuts, a couple of mushrooms, if you can find them...and three bottles of fresh water."

After she read these off from paper she placed it back on her belt and looked to the pair in front of her. "So? Which one of you will get what?" she asked with a small smile spreading on her cheeks.

"Well...since the last time anyone asked Sora to get water, she got it from the ocean...I'll do that part." Riku stated with a sigh and shrug.

Sora huffed to this and groaned silently; "I was only five at the time!...And none of you mentioned that it would be water that we'd be drinking." she said quickly in her defense, yet Riku simply shrugged once more.

"And I guess I'll take care of getting the eggs as well. That'll leave Sora to find the coconuts and mushrooms." the silver-haired boy said with a brief nod before he headed off to do his side of the tasks.

This made Sora growl silently before huffing once more; "I was only five." she muttered again before giving Kairi a quick nod of her own as she too went on to find what they needed.

Though the auburn-haired girl just giggled to all this, as she really loved being with her two best friends. Her then bringing forth what appeared to be an unfinished charm made from shells, it being in the shape of a star. Yet while she worked on completing this, none of them knew that today could potentially be the very last peaceful day on the island they would ever have.

It was around the middle of the day when Riku had everything he chose to get. Though the water was easy to get from the island's spring, the seagulls were very good when it came to hiding their eggs. Yet despite his own difficulty, Sora's search for the mushrooms was beyond frustrating for the poor brown-haired girl. She had gotten the three coconuts, yet only two mushrooms by the time Riku was finished. However, Sora was highly determined to find one more before calling it a day...which she soon began regret.

Though she delivered her items as she found them, this almost seemed to make it all the more annoying to the girl. Her being aggravated that she still had one last item to find, while everything else was already done. Riku and Kairi even volunteering to help, only to be denied by their friend's 'do not give up' attitude. But after a few more minutes of searching, Sora ended up coming to a small cave in the mountain that made up the island itself. It being right next to the spring that Riku filled up the bottles for the water they needed.

The brown-haired girl blink briefly at the entrance before smirking lightly and going into the cave. "It's been a while since I came in here." she muttered silently as her voice echoed softly against the walls.

However, once she arrived in the large cavern, she glanced around the walls that held many drawings upon the rocks' surfaces. All the while, at the far end of the cave, there was a large wooden door that held no knob and had golden, glowing lines around the edges. Though Sora simply focused her gaze at a particular drawing on the wall beside this door. The illustration being one that she and Kairi had made not long after they first met eight years ago.

Sora then kneeled down and looked at her drawing of Kairi's head, then to Kairi's picture of Sora's own head. The brown-haired girl gave a soft smile to this as she recalled how the two had immediately became great friends the very day they met. "It feels like so long ago." Sora whispered to herself as she glanced to the side and saw a gathering of mushrooms.

Yet she didn't pay them much mind as she picked up a rock and looked to the sketches once more. Though she briefly glanced up in thought, she soon smiled wider and began drawing something between the two heads. Upon finishing, it revealed to be her hand with a star in it being offered to Kairi; 'Maybe I really could share the Paopu fruit with her. Or perhaps I'd be better off...' Sora thought silently as she looked down without finishing this musing.

'Though...would Kairi even accept it from me?' she continued on, to which she closed her eyes.

But Sora was soon brought out of these thoughts as she heard a quiet sound of a rock shifting behind her. This made her quickly turn to the source of the sound and blink a few times at the sight of a figure in a brown cloak. Yet what made Sora ready for a fight was their face being completely shrouded in shadows, and the fact that they gave off a very ominous presence.

"I've come to see the door to this world." they spoke silently in a low male voice as it barely echoed off the walls around them.

"Who are you?" Sora questioned as her hand inched toward the wooden sword on her side, despite not knowing if she could take the man alone.

"This world has been connected." he said as if ignoring the girl before him entirely.

"What do you mean 'connected'?" Sora demanded as she took a short step back and gripped her weapon.

"And talking about 'this' world...that means you've got to be from a different one. How did you get here?" she continued as her eyes narrowed on him, her gripping the handle of her sword tighter.

"Tied to the darkness...soon to be eclipsed." the cloaked man all but whispered as he still paid no attention to the brown-haired teen and her questions.

"You do not yet know, what lies beyond the door." he continued as his hood shifted slightly toward her as if to finally acknowledge the girl's presence.

"This door?" Sora asked as she glanced briefly to the large wooden door on her right.

"I've come to believe that this door leads to the heart of this world. It probably sounds childish, but my mother always said that a person's heart is like a door...so why would a world be any different?" she said before placing her free hand where her own heart is.

"I just have a feeling that's what it might be." the blue-eyed girl finished as she placed her hand back to her side to be ready for a possible fight.

"Hmph, there is so much to learn...and yet you still understand so little." the man said, though his tone seemed to become a bit more quiet than before.

"Oh yeah? Well I'm going to go out to see every world out there and learn all there is to know." Sora stated with narrowed eyes, her sounding as if she were accepting a challenge.

"A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing." he retorted in his normal whisper of a voice.

"Hmph, says you. We're all born without knowledge...it's through our experiences that we learn anything in the first place." Sora began as she looked to the door with a smirk.

"And I'm not going to stop until I've learned all that I can." she finished as she gently pressed her fist on the door's surface.

Though after she turned back toward the man, he was already gone. This lead for her to quickly look around the cave, yet found no trace of him ever being there. While her eyes narrowed once more to this, she soon let out a breath and walked to the mushrooms she saw before. Sora soon plucked them from the ground and started heading out of the cave, though not without first giving a brief glance toward her new drawing and then the door.

"I'll show that guy. Who ever he was and wherever he went...I'm gonna learn all sorts of things when we travel to other worlds." she muttered as she reached the end of the cave and walked out.

Sora then headed back toward Kairi and Riku as they sat on the beached raft itself, both just waiting for her return. She quickly placed the last mushroom in the open chest they made specifically for their food, and closed it. Then as Sora turned to her friends, they gave a nod and started heading toward the dock that had each of their boats. Yet despite Riku leaving early from being exhausted, Sora and Kairi stayed to watch the sun set.

"You know, Riku has changed." the auburn-haired girl spoke silently as she tilted her head to the side slightly.

"Yeah...I've noticed it a little bit too. He seems a bit more..." Sora started before looking up in thought as if trying to think of a proper word.

"I know exactly what you mean." Kairi said with a light giggle, to which her and Sora shared a brief nod and chuckle with one another.

"Well...I think we've all changed in our own ways since we've met, right?" the brown-haired girl added with a short shrug of her shoulders.

"Maybe..." Kairi muttered silently as she trailed off and looked down in thought, to which she then looked back to Sora with a soft smile.

"Sora...don't ever change." she continued, to which said other girl blinked few times and tilted her head in response.

Yet Sora slowly smiled lightly and nodded her head; "I won't." she said with a slightly wider smile as the two shared a glance.

"Promise?" Kairi asked with a small grin, to which Sora nodded once more; "Promise." she said with her own grin.

* * *

Thank you to everyone that has left a review, I hope all of you who read this story have been enjoying it thus far. I know that not much is happening since it's Destiny Islands, but the last part for this world is coming up in the next chapter. So our Heroine Sora's journey will truly begin after the next chapter. ;) But until then, I'll see you all next week.


	4. Destiny Islands part III

**Sorry for how late this chapter is, not only was I working...but Fanfiction was having problems. Apparently the servers were down...though I guess that means no one would have been able to read this chapter anyway. But I digress, I hope you all enjoy this new chapter. ^^ And yes...the next chapter is basically the official start of Sora's journey and the many big changes to come. ;)**

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 4: Destiny Islands part 3

As Sora laid in her bed, she could hear her mother making dinner down stairs where the kitchen was. However, her mind wasn't on food at the moment. She was thinking about what might happen tomorrow when she and her friends would begin their travels. Yet she continued to look around her room anxiously as none of her toys, books or posters could hold her attention long enough to keep her mind from racing.

Despite Sora's mother being very understanding of the whole idea, it was obvious that she believed it was more of a 'child's phase' than anything. Which made the teen think that her mom would be highly surprised when she found out that Sora and her friends had ventured off to other worlds on their own.

Though the brown-haired girl soon heard a far off rumbling noise, to which she quickly sat up and looked out the window, just to the side of her bed. Out in the distance, she saw what looked like a thunder storm hovering over the island where she and her friends spent just about every day, or afternoon of the year.

"Oh no..." she muttered out as she jumped out of bed as fast as possible; "...the raft!" she exclaimed as she quickly slipped her boots on and wrote a quick note to her mother before rushing out through the window.

Though after rowing as fast as she could to the island, she noticed that Riku's boat had already arrived. This lead for her to rush onto the island and see said silver-haired teen standing on the small island that each of them spent the previous afternoon on. Yet when Sora started running across the beach, she noticed a large group of black creatures rising from shadows on the sand. Her eyes immediately widening as they were the same kind she fought during that 'dream' the day before.

"But...how?" Sora whispered in disbelief before running even faster as to keep away from the creatures.

'Even though I beat those things in that dream I had...I was using that staff, would a wooden sword even work on them?' she thought quickly, to which she brought her weapon out and swung it at one of the closest creatures.

But even after doing so, the blade simply went right through their head, as if one of them wasn't tangible. Though another had jumped toward Sora and caused her to raise the sword up in a blocking position. However, the weapon was soon shattered into splinters, making Sora roll to the side to completely avoid the attack. This caused her to run even faster away from the creatures, to which the teen rushed across the bridge that lead onto the small piece of land.

"Riku!" Sora called out to her friend as she quickly ran up behind him.

Yet as she looked back at the monsters that had been following her, each of them suddenly disappeared. This made her blink in response for a moment, though she quickly turned back to Riku as he spoke up.

"The door has opened." he muttered before turning around to face his friend.

"The door?" Sora echoed back silently with her eyes blinking once more.

But they soon widened as she immediately turned toward the opening for the cave, which lead into the island's mountain. In its place however, there was a large set of glowing doors that reminded her of the one she saw in her 'dream' the other day. 'It can't be. That's the same door.' she thought quickly before turning back to Riku as he spoke once again.

"The door has opened, Sora. Now we can finally go to other worlds!" he stated with a strange excitement in his tone despite the raging storm around them.

"But what about Kairi? She's supposed to come with us!" Sora called as she took a brief glance around, the wind rushing around them quickly as the creatures still hadn't returned yet.

"She will." Riku said calmly as he looked past her, to which Sora followed his gaze.

Though as she did, her eyes widened upon seeing Kairi going through the door she spotted just seconds ago. 'When did she get here? I never saw her on the water.' the brown-haired girl thought before turning back to Riku.

"We might never be able to come back once we step through. We may never see our parents again, but...I'm not going to let fear stop me!" the silver-haired boy claimed firmly, him looking up at the clouds as they formed a large black ball in the sky.

"I'm not afraid of the darkness!" Riku continued as he shifted his gaze back to Sora, whom could only stare at him with a shocked expression.

"Riku..." she whispered silently as said teen soon offered his right hand out to her.

This causing Sora to blink for a moment before she quickly attempted to reach out and take it. But Riku was soon surrounded in some kind of black energy, which pushed the girl back no matter how hard she tried to reach out. Yet the darkness soon began to surround her body as well, to which it consumed her completely within seconds.

"No!" she yelled out as the darkness was visibly absorbed inside of Sora's body, allowing her to see once more and notice that Riku had disappeared.

However, in Sora's hand, there was an oversized skeleton key. It being around three and a half feet in length, with a long golden key-chain extending from the hilt. This chain ending with a small gold token in the shape of what looked like a circle with two smaller ones on the top like a pair of ears. The blade and teeth of the key were gold in color, while the rainguard appeared to be red and the guard was silver. Though the teeth themselves seemed to form the outline of a crown, which Sora immediately noticed had matched the crown charm she was wearing.

"What the..." she muttered silently with blinking eyes of confusion upon looked at this strange object.

Yet upon gazing at it, a silent voice echoed out the word 'Keyblade' seemingly in both her mind and in her ears. But before she could ponder what this meant, she quickly looked around and saw a group of shadow creatures surrounding her. This time though, Sora didn't feel frightened at all, nor had the thought of running away even cross her mind.

"I can do this." she whispered as she glanced over toward the door she saw Kairi going through moments ago.

She then quickly slashed at the closest monster as it jumped toward her, which caused it to be reduced to black smoke and disappear soon after. This made a small smirk curl Sora's lips as she soon started to slash at each of the creatures that came near her. But despite how fast she tried to reach the door, the small beasts continued to get in her way as she kept defeating one after another.

"Out of my way!" Sora yelled out as she kicked one of the creatures as it rose up from the ground in front of her.

This sending it into the spring just to the side of the doors, though it caused all the remaining ones to immediately back away. Despite giving Sora a sense of accomplishment, she didn't ponder on it for long as she quickly rushed through the doors and into the cave. But upon arriving at the cavern where the wooden door was, she saw Kairi standing before this closed entrance.

"Kairi!" Sora called out as said girl turned around with a dazed expression, to which she muttered back the brown-haired girl's name weakly.

Yet the moment Kairi attempted to reach out to Sora, the door suddenly bursted open from behind the auburn-haired girl. This allowing a huge wave of black energy to come pouring out from the other side. It also caused Kairi to fly forward and straight to Sora, whom brought her arms up to catch her. But no impact came, as the girl's body seemed to pass right through her friend's. Sora blinked in shock for a brief second before she was immediately blasted backward and out of the cave from the dark power.

However, upon finally falling to the sand outside, Sora's eyes widened as she saw that the whole island was in ruin. But not only that, the ocean around it was gone as well. It looking as though the small spec of land remaining was simply floating in the middle of space.

"W-What happened to my island!" she called out before looking up and seeing how the large black orb in the sky was sucking up what was left of the small piece of land.

But her attention was soon grasped by a huge monster that suddenly rose up from the ground, it too looking just like the one she fought in her 'dream'. Upon seeing this beast, Sora didn't feel frightened or even nervous, she simply narrowed her eyes, pointed her Keyblade at her new opponent.

"I'm going to make you pay for destroying my home." she stated firmly, her feel like either a heroine about to fight a villain, or someone about to take revenge, possibly even both.

'If Riku was right, then I should be able to find him and Kairi in another world. Once I escape what's left of our island...I'll go after them. But for now...' she thought quickly before shifting her body to the side and charging at the huge monster, which swung a fist down at her.

Sora quickly jumped up onto the top of its arm, ran up toward its face and slashed her weapon into where its cheek would be. Though despite her not being physically strong, the beast was sent straight to the ground with great force. This making Sora blink a few times as she look at her Keyblade with an impressed expression.

"Hmm...this thing is better than I expected. Definitely an upgrade to my wooden sword." she muttered with a small smirk before rushing at the creature once more.

As she did, the beast quickly brought up a fist and hit it into the ground, which caused the sand to turn black. But Sora just kept coming as she ignored the many smaller creatures that rose up from this darkness. These being the same type of creatures that she had just been fighting, of which made her growl light in frustration.

"Just how many of these things are there? I'm getting sick of them already." Sora muttered silently as she still ignored the smaller opponents, to which she quickly swung her weapon at the larger one.

'Once I take care of this one, the rest should either disappear...or at least back off.' Sora thought quickly as she hit the face of the large monster over and over.

Each time it tried to get up, she would spin around and hit its arms to knock it back to the ground. This causing some of the smaller creatures to be crushed by the larger one's body each time they attempted to come toward her. "I don't think so." she said silently as she kept up her attack.

"I'm going to keep you down at my level this time around. I'm not about to run around hitting your hands and legs again." Sora continued as she brought both hands on the Keyblade handle and swung down with all her might at the monster's face.

The moment her attack connected, the beast soon started to vanish in a similar fashion as the smaller ones. Though once it was gone, said littler ones also vanished as they all instinctively knew what was coming next. Sora looked around briefly as her island was almost completely gone now, to which she looked up at the black sphere in the sky and narrowed her eyes.

'If I let myself be swallowed by this thing, will I reach another world?' Sora thought as she clenched her Keyblade tightly.

"Only one way to find out." she muttered, to which seconds later, the girl was soon lifted up into the air and sent flying into the orb.

'Riku! Kairi! I'm coming for you!' Sora thought just before she was engulfed in the darkness.

* * *

 **And there you have it...she's sucked into a black hole and dies. Not really, her story continues. But I kinda thought something like that could have happened when I first played the game, since everything else in the worlds taken by the Heartless are reduced to nothing, why would a person be any different? Of course, that was before I knew about the whole 'strength of heart' thing. Though that brings up the question of...what happened to everyone else? Were they all turned into Heartless? But that could mean Sora destroyed his own mother's Heartless and never knew. 0.o Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed...let me know in a review if you did or didn't. Also, if there is anything you'd like to see in terms of interactions between characters in certain worlds or specific moments in the story line that you'd like to see go a specific way, I'll be willing to try and fit them in. ;) I can't promise anything, but I'm definitely going to be reading your ideas. ^^**


	5. Traverse Town part I

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 5: Traverse Town part 1

Sora slowly awoke after feeling something licking her face, though as she saw an orange colored dog, she just tilted her head in confusion. Her mind not being fully conscious as she briefly looked around; "Hmm? Where am I?" she muttered silently before looking to the dog.

"Did I sleep walk again?" Sora questioned as the dog just tilted its own head to the side.

Yet after a brief moment, the brown-haired girl gasped and rushed to her feet; "Wait a second! My island!" she exclaimed in a panic as she looked around once more.

Though she soon tilted her head down as realization hit her like a ton of bricks; "Is my home really gone?" she whispered silently, to which the dog nuzzling its head against her hand.

Sora blinked briefly to this before smiling lightly and petting the top of the dog's head. "Do you know where this place is?" she asked as she looked down at the collar the dog was wearing.

"Pluto?" the blue-eyed girl muttered out the dog's name, to which he soon wagged his thin black tail.

Though the dog soon turned his head to the side with a raised ear before rushing off in that direction. This left Sora to blink a few more times before smirking lightly with a shrug. She then slowly started to look around again, only to truly take in her surroundings this time. Her finding that she was in a simple alleyway that had a few boxes with likely abandoned items inside.

As Sora walked out of this dead end alley, she immediately came up to the side of a building with multiple neon lights around it. But after circling around toward the front, she barely even bothered to look at this facility any further upon seeing the rest of the town that was in view. Though it was only a small part of it, the look of multiple other buildings, an outdoor restaurant and even a large entrance gate made the girl grin in excitement.

Despite some of these things being on her own island, they were in a totally new and different world than her own. "Cool." was all she whispered out, her grin widening slightly as she continued to look around.

The perimeter of the town was surrounded by a tall brick wall that overshadowed even the tallest of buildings she could see. There was also a huge set of double doors just to the side of the entrance, which made Sora raise a brow briefly before continuing her examination of the town. This allowing her to see a few other buildings around her, each one have a unique set of neon lights around them. The blue-eyed girl assuming that the colors likely designated each establishment as a specific type of business.

"I wonder what's in these places." she muttered to herself before looking in through each of the windows.

One seemed to sell jewelry and accessories, most of which she had never seen before. Another had what looked like different colored bottles of various things that were placed on shelves. "Hmm...what to do?" Sora said silently as she looked up.

'Well the first thing to do is to try and find Riku and Kairi. So I suppose I can just ask around to see if anyone has seen them.' she thought silently, her tapping her chin lightly.

However, Sora soon turned to the side quickly as she heard something wooden falling upon the stone floor of the town. As she turned to look, she saw a group of people rushing over to the large double doors next to the entrance gate. Each of the people seemed to be talking about something as one of them picked up the two pieces of wood that had fallen away from the door. Though Sora soon looked above the doors themselves and saw that there was a large number '3' lit up with neon lights.

'Hmm...is this town split into districts then?' she thought briefly, to which she then blinked at the sight of the people trying to hammer the planks of wood back onto the doors to keep them shut.

'Are they trying to keep people from going in? Or to keep something from getting through?' the girl questioned in her mind, the people's actions making it obvious what the planks of wood were being used for.

Though as Sora walked closer, she saw the pieces of wood slip away from the door as the nails kept bending at the hands of the rather nervous towns people. This making the brown-haired girl sweat drop briefly as she crept over to the door slowly without being noticed. 'Only one way to find out.' she thought with a small grin as her sense of adventure got the best of her.

"We need more planks of wood to hold the door closed!"

"But most of the pieces in the carpentry were already cut shorter than this!"

"Ugh! If only we hadn't made that order for more windows for the buildings in District 5!"

Were just some of the things Sora heard before she managed to slip through the door without the people seeing. Each of whom were preoccupied with either trying to straighten the nails or rush off to find something more to keep the doors closed.

But after getting through to the other side, Sora glanced around and raised a brow when all she saw was a water fountain at the end of a wide open plaza. There were many more neon lights all over the place as well as two walkways that could be seen on either side of her. These leading up to a second level, where Sora saw many more buildings and even another set of doors with a '2' above them.

"Hmm...so this is the Third district and that up there is the Second." she muttered out as she looked back and up at the number '1' in neon lights above the door she came through.

"But if I just came from the First...how would I even get to that fifth district the guy mentioned?" she continued silently with a heavy sigh.

Though she soon looked around once more as if to make sure nothing was around, to which she soon noticed another door to the side. However, this one much smaller than the district gates, yet larger than the normal doors on the buildings around her. It also held man strange markings on it, none of which the brown-haired girl couldn't identify. Save for the one that was shaped like a flame, located just below the center of the door itself. Yet as she walked over and inspected the entrance, she couldn't see any way to open it as there wasn't even a split in the middle, nor a handle.

'Hmm...how to get through here.' she thought before placing a hand to the door, exactly on the spot where the flame design was.

Though the moment she touched it, there was a brief flash of fire around her hand, which caused her to let out a rather girlish yelp and jump back. Yet even as the door itself quickly slid upward and opened for her, she just stayed in a shocked pose for a few seconds. "R-Right." was all she said as she looked around as if to make sure no one saw or heard her in that embarrassing moment.

Sora quickly rushed through the door and ended up finding herself inside of a large cavern that had water flowing into it from an area too dark to see. Though this had created only ten feet of space between the shoreline and the doorway. However, it was the small island house in the middle of the water that caught the blue-eyed girl's attention.

It was a grey-bricked house that had a rounded shape, a pointed top and a rather deserted appearance overall. But Sora soon walked up to the shore and blinked at the large, flat rocks that seemed to be floating back and forth through the water.

"Huh...that's new." she muttered before she simply jumped from one rock to the next, her already seeing too much to really be surprised by this.

As soon as she reached the other side, Sora then went through a sheet-covered entrance that brought her into the house. Though after looking around at the empty, one room house, she let out a breath and looked down. "And here I was hoping to find something cool." she muttered with a light pout.

"Well...it feels nostalgic if nothing else." a voice spoke out from the side, to which Sora quickly turned to see Kairi walking around the slightly raised center of the room.

"K-Kairi..." Sora whispered out as she was too caught up the fact that Kairi was there, that she didn't notice how the other girl's voice didn't echo in the room like her own did.

"It reminds me of the secret place back home, remember?" the auburn-haired girl continued silently before looking to her friend with a soft smile.

"Y-Yeah...it kinda does." Sora muttered out before looking around for a moment, yet when she looked back to where Kairi was, the girl was gone.

"Kairi?" she asked quickly as she looked around quickly; "Kairi!"

But no reply came as her voice echoed not only through the house, but through the cave as well. Though as Sora let out a defeated sigh and turned to leave, she let out a yelp in surprise when a puff of blue smoke appeared before her. This revealing an elder man with a long, white beard stretching down toward his feet, and a mustache that came down around where his jaw would be. He was dressed in an ankle-length cloak, long pointed shoes and even a tall wizard's hat, all of which were the same blue color. Though while he had a brown and black bag in one hand, his other had what looked like a small wooden cane.

"What's all that racket?" the elder man asked with a glance around as he adjusted his small glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"Oh...hello there, are you the one that's here to learn magic by any chance?" the man continued, him walking over to the raised section of the room and placed his bag upon it.

"Magic? So that means...you're a real wizard?" Sora asked as her previously dull eyes immediately lit up in excitement.

"Why of course~! My hat isn't just for show after all." he began as he gestured to said head covering with his cane.

"Anyway, my name is Merlin...and I am a powerful wizard! A soothsayer! A prognosticator~!" Merlin announced as he waved his staff through the air.

"I have the power to see through time...even centuries into the future~!" he continued, him waving his free hand to the other side.

All the while, Sora just stared at him with greater and greater excitement as she was nearly bouncing from it. "Wow~..."she gasped silently as she was clearly impressed.

"In fact my dear...I've even been there and seen the progress of many worlds." Merlin added with a smile on his elder features.

"Whoa~! So that means you can see everything?" Sora asked as she continued to bounce on her toes from enthusiasm.

"Yes...everything." Merlin said with a proud grin, him even puffing his chest up slightly.

"Really? Everything?" a voice spoke up as an brown feathered owl suddenly flew in through the broken window on the side of the house.

"Cause I doubt you knew the reason behind this young lady's arrival." the voice continued in a very sophisticated way as Sora soon saw that it was the bird itself that was talking.

"Alright, yes...not everything, Archimedes. But I did indeed know that someone would be coming here to learn magic." Merlin said with a quick huff at the owl's comments as it landed in the rafters of the house.

"Is that so? Did you come here for that reason young lady?" Archimedes questioned as he looked down to her from his spot.

"Well...not really. I just came here to see what was in this district and if my friends were around. But after hearing that Merlin is a wizard...I definitely want to learn about magic now." Sora responded as she smiled widely.

"Hmm...well then, I suppose you were only half right, Merlin." the owl said in his very proper sounding tone and voice.

"Hmph...we'll see who's right when I rightfully help her to become one of the most powerful mages the worlds have ever seen!" the elder man stated with a small smirk.

"I have foreseen it...and I know for certain that this girl will be a truly remarkable person." he continued with a smile to Sora.

Whom blinked at him a few times before quickly smiling back and nodding her head; "I'm ready." she said quickly as Merlin grinned in response.

"Very well...lets us use the underground area to train you in the art of all types of magic." the wizard said as he started walking over to the other side of the room.

Yet before Sora could follow, Archimedes cleared his throat to the man below him; "Aren't you forgetting something?" the owl questioned with a hinting tone.

"Hmm? Oh yes!" Merlin began as he smiled sheepishly and turned to Sora; "Just a moment...I have to unpack."

After his words, Sora blinked a few times and glanced over to the bag Merlin left on the raised middle of the room. Though as the old man walked over and brought his staff up, the bag opened up automatically and began levitating miniature versions of furniture out of it. But the further away from the bag they went, the larger each object became. This continued until they all turned to a normal size, to which they were then placed in a particular spot in the room.

As soon as everything was out, the room itself looked quite different and definitely no longer empty. There was now a table and two chairs on the raised section with candles in the middle. Many piles of books could be seen placed all around the walls, while a birdhouse was put between two of these piles. Where of which Archimedes quickly flew over to and landed upon; "Much better." the owl muttered with a brief nod of his head.

"Well now that we've finished unpacking, time for training." Merlin said as he looked to Sora.

Said girl was all but glowing from pure eagerness from the entire display, to which both the wizard and owl couldn't help but smile at her. 'She'll definitely make for a truly wonderful and powerful mage.' they both thought in unison.

* * *

There you have it, just as Master Yen Sid taught King Mickey, Merlin the Wizard is going to teach Sora. The next chapter will showcase Sora's advancement with the first real fight in Traverse town. So stay tuned, cause things are only going to pick up from here. ;) Till next time everyone~!


	6. Traverse Town part II

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 6: Traverse Town part 2

Hours had passed before Sora emerged from the cavern, to which she stretched her arms over her head and let out a heavy sigh of exhaustion. Her having learned a multitude of magic spells and even the upgraded versions of the ones she started her training with. Yet despite everything she had been through, she stayed for a few cups of tea with Merlin and Archimedes before leaving. This serving to rejuvenate her magic and even her body to the point of feeling slightly energized. Sora having been rather tired before the tea, which made her wonder if it was just an ordinary drink.

"I'll definitely have to come back as soon as possible. But I really wanna find out what I can do after everything I've learned thus far." she muttered silently to herself as she walked through the still empty Third District.

'Plus it'll be fun to use those new techniques Merlin helped me to create.' Sora thought as she continued on her way.

"Maybe I'll try-" but before she could finish, a scream was heard coming from the First District.

Despite her being halfway up the ramp that lead toward the Second District, she immediately turned around and quickly rushed toward the First's doors. 'Did whatever was in this area get through? I never saw anything so I didn't think there was anything here.' she thought as she literally kicked the doors open, despite them being barricaded from the other side.

Upon coming through, she saw a few of the same people from before, whom had been trying to keep the door closed. All of them quickly running away as fast as they could from a group of small black creatures. Sora narrowed her eyes to this before she rushed toward these monsters and brought forth her Keyblade with a blaze of black fire. She soon smirked widely as a large burst of red flame shot out from the tip of her weapon, only to hit half of the six beasts, which cause them to vanish.

As they did, the remaining ones turned to her immediately, only for them to be hit in the head with one strong swing from Sora's Keyblade. This causing each of them to also disappear soon after and allowing the fleeing people to get inside the nearby buildings.

"I think I might just have a lot of fun on my search for Riku and Kairi." she muttered silently as a wide grin spread on her features, to which she soon looked around as dozens of shadow creatures started to appear around her.

Yet this only made her grin widen as she readied her weapon and waited for them to come closer to her. Sora then brought her her free hand out and whispered a single word under her breath; "Gravira."

This created a small black ball in her palm, of which she tossed up into the air, where it expanded and created a large black, purple and blue sphere. Of which was twenty feet in diameter with Sora in the very center of it. Though while the ball seemed harmless to the eye, it soon caused all of the monsters to suddenly disburse as they were crushed by the spell itself. Despite Sora being within it, she wasn't affected in the least as she just stood there without a scratch.

"I love magic." she whispered with an excited smile on her features as she all but bounced on her toes.

After a few moments however, her expression soon turned to a serious one the second she heard a silent, yet masculine voice behind her. "They'll come at you out of no where."

Sora immediately turned around to face this person, to which she raised a brow briefly as the source of the voice walked out from behind the corner of a building. It revealed to be a man with long, unruly brown hair, blue eyes and a scar running diagonally across the bridge of his nose. He had on a short jacket, baggy jeans, leather gloves and a pair of zipper-lined shoes, all being the same color of black. The pants themselves also sported a vertical zipper going down the side of each leg and had four belts. Two of these being brown, while the remaining two were black. Though each of them were worn loosely around him, one black belt was worn properly around his waist. Along with all of these, he also had on a white under shirt and silver Griever necklace.

"And they'll keep coming at you...as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade." he continued as he gestured to said weapon in Sora's hand.

"But why?" the man continued on as he rubbed the bridge of his nose; "Why would it choose a kid like you?"

"Hmph! A kid like me could kick your sorry butt!" the brown-haired girl declared with a huff as she pointed her Keyblade at the man.

"Hmm...well I think it would be easiest to test your strength if I fought you. So...might as well." the male said as a brief flash of light in his hand suddenly produced a long weapon.

Its appearance was that of a large revolver from the handle, yet formed into an over-sized knife-like blade upon reaching the barrel. This weapon being about a meter and a half long, with a small chain on the bottom of the handle, which lead to a similar pendant as the one around the man's neck.

"Bring it on." was all Sora said before she gathered ice magic in her free hand and shot it toward her new opponent.

Whom became wide eyed upon seeing the girl using magic, him only having heard her fight from moments ago and didn't actually get to watch. Yet he soon jumped out of the way of this attack, though he didn't have time to counter as Sora had rushed toward him. Her sending a spinning swing of her weapon at his face as she came closer. Though upon blocking this blow with his gun-blade, his eyes narrowed as he looked down at the rising knee coming at him quickly.

This leading for him to jump backward while sending a fire ball at the girl in order to gain some distance. However, Sora simply smirked to this as she had jumped back as the man desired, but gathered a great amount of magic around her Keyblade in the process.

"Magnera!" she called out, causing the man's eyes to widen in shock once more as he knew that the name of this spell was an enhanced version of the normal Magnet.

Yet he wasn't able to stop himself from being dragged toward the white sphere of magic, which rose up into the air upon being cast. This making him quickly bring his sword up and slash the ball pulling him forward. Once he cut through this magic, the man quickly turned his head as he saw Sora going behind him.

But it was the large fire ball that she had growing in front of her weapon that surprised him as she called out; "Fira!" before blasting the sphere of flames at him.

However, the man immediately spun around in mid-air to slash this magic in half before it could engulf him. He then brought a hand out and quickly formed a fire ball of his own, yet his target was no longer visible. Though as he finally landed on the ground and looked around quickly, his eyes narrowed slightly; "Where...?" he whispered to himself.

It wouldn't take long however, for him to realize where Sora had vanished to, as her voice echoed from high above him. "Aerora!"

To this, the male was quickly flung up into the air by a strong gust of wind surrounding him. The brown-haired man narrowed his eyes even further as he soon saw Sora hovering in the air with an Aerora spell of her own surrounding her. It swirling around her whole body like a shield, yet it was spinning so fast at the bottom, that it was no wonder she was able to hover in the air.

Sora then gave a small smirk as she brought her Keyblade up, of which produced magic at the tip before it was shot toward the man. This attack taking the form of a Blizzard spell, to which the brown-haired man quickly used the fire ball he formed to counter it. Yet the collision resulted in the ice and fire turning to steam and creating a brief fog around the two. Though it made the man wonder why his opponent would use such a weak spell after having used so many stronger ones against him.

"Gotcha." Sora stated as she suddenly came through the steam and sent a kick toward the man's stomach.

Despite him managing to bring his weapon up to block, the force of her attack was easily tripled from the Aerora spell around him combining with hers. Though after the fusing of the two, her leg was surrounded with a mini tornado and increased the impact greatly the moment she attacked. This causing him to get blasted straight to the ground with a brief, yet strong gust of wind from the air magic. "Man she's good." he whispered out with a low grunt.

Upon quickly landing on his feet, albeit a bit wobbly, the brown-haired man looked up to the girl as she soon started to drop from the air. Yet it wasn't due to her Aerora spell running out, it was because she gathered all the wind magic into her free hand. All the while, she brought her Keyblade out to the side as electricity surrounded it.

But it wasn't either of these spells the man stared in shocked at, it was the fact that as Sora placed her free hand onto her Keyblade, the two separate magics mixed. This creating a swirl of spinning lightning to engulf Sora's weapon; "Thunder Strike!" she called out, just as she swung her Keyblade down at her opponent.

Said man managing to bring his gun-blade up to block the attack, but it still hit its target. As once their weapons connected, a bright flash of electricity flew all around them. Along with this, there was a loud clap of thunder, of which was heard across the whole town. But after all of this died down, it revealed the brown-haired man laying unconscious on the ground and Sora standing over him with a smirk. Yet she was breathing heavily as she soon kneeled down and let out a sigh; "Man...to think that a few hours ago, I didn't know anything about magic." she muttered silently as she rolled back and laid down.

Sora continuing to breath heavily from light exhaustion as she looked up at the night sky; "Maybe I should have asked who he was." she whispered, her bringing her head and upper body slightly up to look at the unconscious man.

"His name is Squall Leonhart, though he prefers to be called; Leon. And it looks like you really did a number on him just then." a female voice spoke up from the side.

This made the brown-haired girl turn to this person with blinking eyes as she saw a teenage girl, whom was likely a few years older than Sora herself. She had short, black hair and dark brown eyes. Her outfit consisted of a metal headband with two green tassels, a yellow scarf and a green tube top that had two blue belts holding it up. She also had on tan short-shorts with another loose, blue belt around her waist. Her long white socks reached about mid-thigh, while her orange shoes made her appearance look all the more bright. Lastly were the mesh sleeves on both her arms had disappeared into an orange color, and the fingerless gloves with black bands constricting the ends.

"I see...'Leon', huh?" Sora said silently as she slowly sat up fully with a sigh and looked at the man, to which she then turned back to the girl.

Whom of which began walking over to Leon as she gazed at him with a bit of false disappointment; "And you are?" the brown-haired girl asked with a slight tilt of her head and raised brow.

"Me? Well...I'm glad you asked." she started before she suddenly began to make various different poses that made her look like sort of super hero.

"I am the champion of the earth and the sky. I am the conqueror of evil. The single white rose of Wutai. I am...the Great Ninja, Yuffie!" she announced with one last pose.

This making Sora blink a few times in response, yet she soon couldn't stop the wide grin spreading on her features at how amazing the girl's introduction sounded. 'I need to come up with an introduction like that.' the brown-haired girl thought silently to herself.

Yet her excitement quickly turned to light disappointment as Yuffie's last pose soon made her fall over and on top of Leon. "Aw man...every time!" the raven-haired girl groaned out with a huff as she quickly sat up, though her impact caused the man to immediately wake up.

"Please don't tell me you fell on me while practicing your introductions...again." Leon muttered silently with a light groan of his own as he sat himself up as well.

Though, as if the events that took place moments ago hit him instantly, the brown-haired man quickly looked to Sora and noticed that she was only mildly exhausted. Yet while he looked down from his defeat, he soon turned back to the younger girl and raised a brow in question. "Where did you learn all of that magic from?" he questioned as he tilted his head slightly to the side.

"From Merlin. I met him just minutes after I arrived in this world, but he taught me all sorts of magic and I got the hang all of them really fast. He even said that I was like a prodigy when it came to magic, so he decided to teach me even more advanced spells as well. Though it was my own idea to mix some together to create brand new attacks, Merlin helped me to develop them further." Sora said with a small grin and wink at the end.

"Though...Merlin is also the one who came up with the names of them since I'm not quite so good at it." she added with a sheepish grin as both Leon and Yuffie blinked to her in response.

"I wanted to call that last attack I used on you; 'Ultra Flashing Lightning Mega Bolt.'" she continued with a light chuckle and clearing of her throat.

"I know...I'll leave the naming to him." Sora muttered with a sigh as the two in front of her just blinked even more.

Yet after a moment, Leon had taken on a small smirk as he slowly nodded his head in approval. "Well...all things considered, I'd say that things might actually be better than any of us had expected."

* * *

And here it is, the fight between Sora and Leon. ;) But just so you know, while Sora did win...Leon was caught by surprise and didn't get the chance to show his true power before he was overwhelmed. Of course we all know when the inevitable rematch will be, so look forward to more in the future. ^^ Anyway, the next chapter will be the last for Traverse Town and then it'll be on to the Disney worlds. ;D So if you liked it, hated it or something in between...leave a review letting me know. :) Till next time~!


	7. Traverse Town part III

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 7: Traverse Town part 3

"So...let me get this straight..." Sora began as she sat on a bed with her legs crossed.

Her being in a large room with green, tan and blue colored walls, this being one of the many sleeping chambers within the large hotel she was in. Yet she closed her eyes and tilted her head down as she continued to speak.

"Those creatures that have been attacking me are called 'Heartless'. Which are created when a person gives in to the darkness and loses their heart...according of course to a guy named 'Ansem'. Who left a series of detailed reports on his research on the Heartless." she continued as Leon and Yuffie gave a nod, both of them standing across from her.

"But those reports were all scattered across the worlds when the one Ansem himself was from had fallen into darkness. So the only thing you guys know is that they're after my heart because I wield the Keyblade, which is the biggest thing they fear the most." Sora said silently as she placed a thumb and pointer finger on her chin.

"And now I'm supposed to save the worlds, using the Keyblade to lock the key holes of each one so the Heartless can't consume them." she finished, her opening her eyes and looking between the two with a raised brow.

"Yep...that about sums it up." Yuffie said with a small smirk before going over and sitting down beside Sora.

Whom just sighed heavily, uncrossed her legs and shrugged her shoulders; "Well...I can't say I'm not thrilled about playing the 'Heroine', but I really need to find my friends first." she said before laying back on the bed.

"Speaking of which...have either of you seen a boy a bit taller than me with silver hair? Or a girl a bit shorter than me with auburn hair?" Sora asked as she leaded upward slightly, her pulling one of her spiky locks when referring to her friends' hair.

"I can't say that I have." was all Leon answered with as he shook his head and shrugging lightly.

"Same here...I haven't noticed anyone new that hasn't already been living here for more than a few years." Yuffie added with her own shrug.

"Figures." Sora muttered with a heavy sigh; "It's never 'that' easy, huh?"

"Well...if they're not here, then they must be on another world. So if you're going to be looking for them by traveling to different places...it would really help if you could save the worlds you visit before leaving." Yuffie suggested with a tilt of her head.

Though the brown-haired girl raised a brow to her briefly, she slowly looked up in thought before nodding in response. "I guess that could work. Killing too birds with one stone...or whatever other idiom works for that." she said with a shrug at the end.

"Huh...you know what idioms are?" Yuffie asked with blinking eyes and a tilt of her head.

"Hey...I pay attention in school, of course I know what they are." Sora stated with a light huff before she quickly turned to Leon.

"But if you ever find either of them, let me know." she continued, her tone showing that she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.

Though immediately following the brown-haired man's nod in response a small Heartless, clad in armor, suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. "Yuffie go!" Leon called out as both he and Sora brought their weapons forth and readied them.

"Lets do this." he continued as he quickly kicked the Heartless through the window it was standing closest to.

All the while, Yuffie rushed through one of the doors in the room as she fled. Though the door had lead into another room, where a gentle female voice called out to the running girl before following after her. Yet Sora and Leon had quickly followed the Heartless outside, where they jumped off the balcony to land in the large walkway below.

Though after landing on the ground, the pair were quickly surrounded by dozens of Heartless, each one looking just like the one that had appeared in the room. But none of them even got the chance to attack as Sora brought her Keyblade up into the air. "Thundara!" she called out as all of her opponents were struck by lightning.

This caused all of the Heartless to disappear upon their defeat, to which Sora looked to Leon as he spoke up. "Find and defeat the leader. That should stop the Heartless from attacking this world for a while."

Sora nodded quickly to him in response as she soon rushed down the walkway, which had an open waterway running right along side of it. This being against the district walls and on the opposite side as the hotel, yet it ended just before a set of doors that held a '3' over them. These being on the same side as the hotel, which made it clear that the doors lead into the Third District.

Upon going through, Sora came out into said area, but didn't notice any Heartless around. She briefly paused and glanced around with a cautious gaze, to which she eventually just shrugged. "Looks like the leader isn't here, better check the other districts." she muttered silently.

'I haven't even got to see much of the Second one yet since Leon said I couldn't go sight-seeing. I'm sure he could have let me do a bit of exploring before explaining everything to me.' Sora thought silently, yet she quickly turned to the side as she heard an explosion.

Sora immediately tried to get out of the way, but she wasn't fast enough as she soon was 'tackled' to the ground by two strange beings dropping from air. "Ow." she groaned out.

"Huh? They key!" the pair laying atop of Sora said as they noticed the Keyblade in her hand.

"Hmm?" Sora hummed out as she was slowly able to stand after the pair did so as well.

One of them was an anthropomorphic duck with white plumage, a yellow-orange bill and legs of the same color. He had light blue eyes, plus a short tuft of feathers on his head and was only visible under his blue hat. This of which resembled a beret, only it had a belt in place of a normal brim, and sported a zipper that spanned the length of the hat. He also had on a high-collared, navy blue jacket, which held sky blue ling and cuffs. He also had a short, blue cape with yellow lining that he wore draped over his shoulders and kept in place by a silver strap. There were also thick, gold bangles on each of his wrists, yet despite all this clothing, he had no pants.

The second one was an anthropomorphic dog with black fur and droopy ears. He also had two bucked teeth and three short hairs coming out of the top of his head, which were show in the front of his hat. This one being orange in color, with a blue band in the middle, yet had an odd shaped top that resembled a teardrop placed on its side. There were a small pair of red goggles seen around the bottom of the hat as well, though strangely enough, the lenses appeared to be quite a bit smaller than this dog's eyes.

He also had on a green turtleneck sweater, with sleeves that belled out slightly and a blue arrow-shaped strap on each cuff. Over the sweater, there was a sleeveless, black vest with grey lining and four pockets of the same color. His pants appeared to be yellow in color as well as having large pockets and was secured around his waist by a thick, black belt. Atop of having very large brown shoes that had steel toes on the outside, he also wore white gloves with a brown band around each wrist.

"Um..." was all Sora muttered after looking at these two up and down for a few moments.

Though she didn't get a chance to speak any further as dozens of Heartless began appearing all around them. This leading for her to glance at the two for a moment, to which she smirked lightly upon seeing that they were in battle-ready stances with their own unique weapons. The dog seemed to have a small shield, which appeared very light and easy to use. While the duck has a staff, which appeared to resemble some sort of mage's weapon.

Sora then turned her attention back to the Heartless and rushed forward, only to slash at three of the nearby creatures. This attack destroying each of them instantly, to which she looked around and blasted multiple fire balls at the Heartless that the two anthropomorphic animals' were fighting. But after doing this, the pair blinked a few times at her as she just grinned lightly from her apparent excitement. "I think I could get used to this 'Heroine' thing." she muttered to herself as she defeated all of the Heartless on her own.

After her words however, the ground shook violently for a moment before a very large set of sliver, red, yellow and blue colored armor dropped from the sky. There was however a strange symbol on the chest area that looked like a bizarre shaped black and red heart. This making Sora raise a brow in question as she wondered if it meant something since it seemed almost out of place on the armor. Yet when the pieces of metal suddenly began to move on its own, Sora's eyes widen briefly when she realized this was another Heartless. "Whoa...is 'this' the leader?" she asked silently as her eyes soon narrowed.

"That means I'll just have to take care of you next." Sora stated with a small grin spreading on her features as she once again charged toward her opponent.

Despite the two anthropomorphic animals' being right behind her, they both shared a glance with one another as they were both rather shocked at this 'key's' power. However, this increased even more so as the armored Heartless continued to attack them with it's floating arms and stomping legs. Though it was the fact that Sora continued to dodge away or even block each and every strike that showed her skill.

"You're a tough one, huh?" the brown-haired girl said as she rolled away from another stopping foot of her opponent.

Yet after landing a few more slashes of her Keyblade on on of the arms, said limb suddenly disappeared. Which made Sora blink a few times before taking on a grin once more, to which she immediately began attack each of the other appendages, one at a time. This tactic soon making it to were the Heartless became nothing but an armored head and body.

Though even with an intimidating spinning attack that the creature used to hit the two anthropomorphic animals, Sora kept dodging out of the way. However, even after the pair seemed to be completely exhausted, the brown-haired girl kept using Cura on them to heal their injuries and return their stamina. But the fight continued to become a stalemate as the Heartless seemed to know that no one could beat it if it just continued to spin at great speed and hurl its body around.

"Alright...that's it." Sora growled out in frustration after having to roll away from another spinning attack by the Heartless.

She then brought her Keyblade out in front of her and narrowed her eyes heavily on her opponent, which soon came spinning right back toward her again. "Stopra!" she called out quickly.

Upon doing this a rippling wave of white magic burst from Sora's weapon, to which the Heartless suddenly stopped in mid-spin. This making the girl smirk once more as she charged at the frozen creature and jumped high into the air. She then brought the Keyblade in a reverse hand-grip as it was engulfed in a black magic; "Gravira Slice!" she yelled out before slashing the Heartless straight down the middle.

Almost immediately after her attack, a large pillar of Gravity magic surrounded the still frozen Heartless before slowly dying down. This sparking for the creature to soon move again, yet it only made one last rotation before it vanished. However, not before producing what looked like a heart shaped, blue and red colored crystal. Of which made Sora blink a few times at first before smirking lightly, her quickly figuring out that she released the heart that the Heartless had taken.

"Whew...today has been a heck of an exhausting day." Sora said with a heavy sigh as if to confirm her own words.

"Hey there." came a very goofy sounding voice from the side, to which the brown-haired girl turned and looked at the anthropomorphic dog.

"We've been lookin' for ya." he continued with a small smirk as Sora blinked a few times in response.

"Me? What for?" was all she asked as she tilted her head slightly to the side.

"They too have been seeking the wielder of the Keyblade." came the reply from Leon as he came up behind Sora along with Yuffie.

"Hey, why don't ya come with us? We can go to other worlds on our vessel." the anthropomorphic dog suggested as he gestured between him and his duck friend.

Whom gave a nod of his head in agreement; "That's right, I'm sure that you'll enjoy going to other places and seeing new things, right?" he said with a strange voice that sounded as though he were using his inner cheeks to speak.

"Hmm...I would like to do that, but I'm also looking for my friends." Sora explained with a light shrug of her shoulders.

"I'm not sure if I have time to just go running around to other worlds, they might need my help." she continued as she looked to her Keyblade as it soon disappeared in a flash.

"It's why I wanted to gain the power of magic in the first place...to protect them." the brown-haired girl finished silently as many around her nodded in understanding.

"I'm sure that we could find them along our journey." the anthropomorphic duck stated as he raised a finger up to further his words.

Sora looked at him for a moment before raising a brow at how him and his dog friend whispered to one another. "Hmm...well, I was going to go around searching any and all the worlds I could find. So...why not?" she said with a small grin on her face.

"I'll go with you guys." she continued as the two before her nodded in response.

"Donald Duck." the white-feathered duck introduced as he brought a hand out.

"The name's Goofy." the dog said, him following suit in the introductions and bringing his own gloved hand out and over his friend's.

"I'm Sora." the girl added with a nod of her head, to which she placed her hand over both of theirs.

"All for one..." Goofy began as they each smiled to one another before finishing in unison; "...and one for all."

* * *

And now it's on to the Disney worlds from here. ;) I'm sure you all know which world comes first, though just to let you know...it'll be the first to break the 'three chapter per world' thing I've had thus far. XD Then again, there have only been two worlds to this point. 0.o But I digress, I hope all of you are enjoying and will continue to read, favorite and review. Oh, and fyi...I'm thinking of posting my updates on the weekends from now on. It'll be easier on everyone to do it that way since...well, school is a thing at the moment. =/ So yeah, I'll give a little treat and update again this coming Saturday in order to establish the new schedule...and to make up for being late again in updating. ^^' So anyway, till next time everyone~!


	8. Wonderland part I

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 8: Wonderland part 1

Sora soon found herself descending slowly down a large circular hole, the walls appearing like a purple colored wood that was sectioned in many small squares. All the while, drawings of tall clocks seemed to be etched all over the rounded wall the further down she went. Though during her gradual fall, she glanced around to Goofy and Donald as they were right along side her.

'Wonder what kind of place this will be.' the brown-haired girl asked in her mind as she soon saw the strangely sectioned, brown colored floor below.

'Very bizarre I guess.' she added quickly before landing gracefully and glancing around the room as the walls had become red bricks.

All the while a pair of tan sofa chairs were pushed up against the wall on the right, and two flower pots sat on the opposite side. Though there was a lamp beside the white flowers and some pictures on the rounded wall, Sora didn't pay much mind to them as a white rabbit wearing a red jacket rushed by.

"Oh my fur and whiskers! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" he called out to himself as he ran past the three.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. I'm here, I should be there!" he continued as he ended up slipping a bit on the smooth floor.

"I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! Oh the Queen...she'll have my head for sure!" was the last thing he said before disappearing around a corner, which was down a hallway leading out of the rounded room.

"Well...whatever that was about...I guess we better follow him and see where it is we ended up." Sora said with a shrug as the two beside her nodded.

They then walked through the rather dimly lit hallway before coming up to a door, but upon opening this, it revealed yet another door...then another...and another. Yet each door got smaller than the last, which made all of them wonder if they would even be able to fit through the opening if they finally reached one. But after the third door, it showed the entrance at last and allowed them to get through without too much difficulty.

Yet as they came out into another room, which appeared to be a bedroom of sorts. However, it was quite small for such a thing. The bed far too small to sleep on, while most of the other objects were too big for any of the three to move around comfortably. Especially due to the white table and chair in the center of the room, of which had two bottles upon it. One having a blue band around the middle, while the other had an orange one.

Though as they looked around, the trio soon saw the rabbit once more, yet he was far smaller than before. Him quickly rushing through a very small door on the opposite side of the room and closing it behind him. Though as Sora walked over to it and kneeled down, she noticed that the door knob appeared to have a set of closed eyes. This making the knob almost appear like an over sized nose and the key hole look similar to a mouth.

"Gawrsh...I wonder how he got so small." Goofy said as he scratched the side of his head, of which he tilted to his right.

"No...you're simply too big." the door knob suddenly spoke up as its previously closed eyes opened and the key hole indeed moved like a mouth.

"It talks?!" Donald exclaimed in surprise, to which Sora leaned forward and examined the door for a moment.

"Must you be so loud? You woke me up." the knob said with a heavy yawn.

"Sorry about that, but how did he get so small?" Sora questioned silently as she blinked a few times at this tired door knob.

"Try the blue bottle on the table." was all he responded with before closing his eyes and falling back to sleep.

Sora soon stood up and looked to this bottle, to which she quickly took it into her hand and drank the somewhat sour liquid inside. Her then handing it over to Donald, who after drinking from it, passed it on to Goofy. Once he had finished drinking, he placed the bottle back on the table and blinks a few times. Each of them glancing to one another with a raised brow as nothing seemed to happen for a few moments.

"Do you think it's a dud?" Donald asked with a tilt of his head and shrug of his shoulders.

Yet the second he said this, the three of them suddenly shrank down to about the height of the fist-sized bottles on the table. "Whoa...that felt weird." Sora muttered as she blinked her eyes many times while looking at the seemingly much larger room.

Though she soon turned her attention to the door as he seemed to be fast asleep, to which she looked to her companions and placed a finger over her lips. They both nodded in response as they all crept to the door, turned the knob and slowly opened it. But after they did this enough to get through, the three immediately rushed through before slowly closing the door.

"Hopefully we didn't wake him up." Sora said, her smiling sheepishly as they walked through a long tunnel with a bright light at the end.

The brown-haired girl quickly realized that the floor turned to grass and the walls became finely trimmed bushes after just a few steps. Her being even more surprised as they reached the end and saw a tall arching hedge shaped like a heart overhead. This of which lead to a large field of grass with many finely trimmed bushes and small trees. She then soon noticed, to her interest that there were many cards even taller than her, standing around the field. Each one having a helmet-wearing head on the top and carried a long joust ending with an upside-down heart.

Despite them being mostly in the way, Sora still see a wooden podium in the middle of the field that had a blond girl standing before it. Her wearing a blue and white dress that reached down past her knees and black shoes. 'She looks around the same age as me.' the brown-haired girl thought briefly as she continued to look around.

Aside from the podium, there was also a tall wooden throne that had a waist-high barrier around it and a rather fat female occupant sitting upon it. She had black hair that was in a bun-lie fashion, while her outfit consisted of a black and red dress with a high collar, which was white on the inside. The woman also held a short staff in her right hand that held a large red heart-shaped pendant upon the top, of which she used to fan herself.

Despite there being a large castle one one side of the field, there was a tall forest one the other that seemed far more interesting. However, Sora's 'tour' of this area was quickly brought to a pause as she heard a horn being sounded. Her quickly turning her attention to the one who blew the horn, it being the rabbit from before as he stood atop of a tall wooden mantle next to the throne. "Court is now in session! Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts presiding!" he called out quickly before gasping for breath as he had obviously ran all the way there.

Though the girl asked why she was on trial in a gentle sounding voice midway through his worlds, she never received an answer until the woman on the throne spoke up. Her being the apparent Queen since she even had a golden crown upon her head.

"This girl is the culprit! There's no doubt about!" she claimed in a very arrogant sounding voice.

"And the reason is...because I say so, that's why!" the Queen continued, her giving a brief pause as it was clear there really was no other reason.

"That is so unfair." the blond girl said as her accent seemed to be a British-like one.

"Well, have you anything to say in your defense?" the Queen questioned, her seeming to have just ignored the girl's words.

"Of course. I've done absolutely nothing wrong." the blond began as she crossed her arms, causing the woman in front of her to narrow her eyes.

"You may be Queen, but I'm afraid that doesn't give you the right to be so...well...so mean." she continued as she briefly uncrossed her arms to point at the raven-haired woman.

"Silence!" the Queen yelled out before slamming her fists on the barrier around her throne.

"You dare to defy me?!" she demanded loudly as her voice echoed through the field.

Though as the blond-haired girl took a step back in a bit of fright, the Queen seemed to take this as a 'No' before carrying on. "Well then...the court finds the defendant, guilty as charged."

This caused the girl to gasp and open her mouth to speak, but the Queen wouldn't let her as she continued on with her words. "For crimes of assault and attempted theft of my heart...OFF WITH HER HEAD!"

Upon these last words, each of the card shaped guards turned to the blond with their weapons readied. All the while, the girl pleaded out for them to stop as she looked from the Queen to the guards with fear visible in her eyes.

"Hold it!" Sora called out as she rushed into the field, to which Donald and Goofy blinked at her.

"Who do you think you are? You dare to interfere with my court? You'll share the same sentence as her!" the Queen stated as she point her short staff at the girl as she rushed up next to the blond.

"This girl isn't the culprit...and you know that." the brown-haired girl stated as she gestured to the blond beside her.

"What nonsense is that? Of course she's the one responsible! I already said she was!" the Queen retorted as she then pointed her heart-shaped staff between the two girls.

"Does she look like she could steal someone's heart? She doesn't even know why she's even here." Sora stated as she narrowed her eyes on the raven-haired woman.

Whom of which ground her teeth slightly before slamming a fist on the barrier once more; "Silence!" she shouted angrily.

"What I say is law! And I say she's guilty!" she continued as she pointed at the pair once more.

"Off with both of their heads!" was all the guards needed to hear before they rushed at the two girls quickly.

Though as they came closer, Sora's Keyblade appeared in her right hand and touched the blond's dress. After a brief shimmer of what looked like a circular barrier surrounding the other girl, Sora gave her a confident wink.

"Don't worry...I'll take care of them." she said before placing a hand on the podium and swinging herself over it.

Upon doing so, she used her momentum to kick one of the card-shaped guard in the face and knock him to the ground. Sora then swung her weapon into the center of another guard, which also fell to the grass and was unable to stand up. Though after seeing this, the brown-haired girl blinked briefly before smirking lightly and raising her Keyblade into the air. "Aerora." she said before a strong gust of wind blasted out and away from Sora.

This quickly causing all of the remaining guards to fall onto their backs, to which each of them struggled to get up. But when each of them finally started to pick themselves off the ground, Sora was spinning her Keyblade around in the air with a red aura around her. "Fira Burst!"

Immediately following this, her weapon was shrouded in fire, to which she soon stopped spinning it. Yet upon doing so, she pointed her Keyblade into the air once more and formed a large fire ball over her head. Though it wasn't this that the guards had to worry about, it was the dozens of smaller spheres of fire that blasted from the larger one that caused them to flee.

Though, they continued to rush around to get out o the way, none of them were able to stay in the vicinity as the flames seemed to reach them no matter where they were. However, not one of them were actually hit by this attack as it seemed to be more for scaring them off than to hurt anyone.

"Now that they're out of the way..." Sora started once all the guards were gone, to which she soon turned to the blond girl, whom had just watched all this in shock.

"...what's your name anyway? I'm Sora." the girl continued with a small grin, despite all the smoking scorch marks on the grass around her.

"I-I'm Alice, pleased to meet you, Sora." the blond responded with a short bow while holding the ends of her dress up slightly.

"Likewise...though I wish we met under better circumstances." Sora said with a sheepish smile as she scratched the back of her neck lightly.

"As do I...though, what was the shimmer that you surrounded me with before?" Alice questioned with blinking eyes, it being clear she was going to avoid asking about the huge fire ball and other spells the girl had used.

"Oh that? It was just a standard Reflera spell. It was barrier to make sure no one would hurt you while I was fighting them off." the brown-haired girl said with a small grin, her enthusiasm for magic truly showing.

"Oh...well thank you very much for your protection." the blond responded as she continued to blink her eyes in amazement and confusion.

"No problem." Sora said before she soon looked to the side as Donald and Goofy finally started to come over.

"About time...what were you two waiting for?" she continued with a light huff as she placed her Keyblade on her shoulder, while he free hand was brought up to her hip.

"We're not supposed to be meddling in the affairs of other worlds." Donald said with his usual strange voice, to which he raised one of his feathered fingers up midway through.

"Yeah...it's against the rules." Goofy added with his own raised finger, which just made Sora sweat drop lightly.

"Oh...right..." was all she could say as her arms dropped to her sides, to which she then sighed heavily.

"...you could have told me sooner." she added silently with a light pout as she briefly glanced around at everything she just did.

"I do apologize if I got you into trouble." Alice said quickly in her usual polite tone, to which Sora waved a hand to her.

"No need for apologies. So long as you're okay...I don't mind that I broke a rule or two." the brown-haired girl said with a confident voice and grin.

The blond soon gave a soft smile to this before looking up in thought; "Hmm...though I wonder who it was that tried to steal the Queen's heart? All this could have been avoided if the real culprit had been caught." she asked before looking up toward where said woman had been sitting.

"Hmm...I suppose we'll just have to ask her what they looked like, huh?" the brown-haired girl said with a wink before she walked over toward the throne and jumped onto the barrier.

This allowing her to see the Queen cowering between her throne and the small wall around it, her having her arms over her head. Sora sighed heavily to this as she gave another brief glance around the area; 'Guess I really did over did it, huh?' she thought briefly before clearing her throat to gain the woman's attention.

"I have a few questions for you about this...'Heart Thief'." Sora said silently with slightly narrowed eyes, her obviously not wanting any more of the Queen's attitude at this point.

* * *

Welcome to the new day for updates. ;) I hope you've enjoyed your stay for this Saturday and will continue to visit each week. If you'd like to tell us how our service was, then we hope you'll leave a review of the good and bad. Thank you for your patronage, until next time. ^^


	9. Wonderland part II

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 9: Wonderland part 2

"And you're sure they looked like this?" Sora asked with a raised brow while holding a drawing made by the Queen of Hearts herself.

Whom just nodded in response with a confident expression on her features; "Of course! Do you doubt my artistic skills?!" she demanded while pointing at the girl with her heart-shaped staff.

The depiction appeared like a stick figure with a strangely shaped head, large pointy feet and big claws for hands. "You really don't want me to answer that." Sora muttered silently with a shake of her head.

"Alright..." she started quickly just as the Queen opened her mouth to speak once more; "...we know for sure that it was a Heartless. So the solution is merely to take out as many of them as possible."

"Gawrsh...but don't we have to take out the leader too? That'll keep most of the smaller ones at bay, right?" Goofy added as he tapped the side of his head at the start.

"That's right...we should split up." Donald said with a quick nod of his head.

"One should stay here to protect everyone...another should start taking out the smaller Heartless to lessen the risk of attack...and the last should find the leader of the Heartless." Sora said, her glancing between each of her two new comrades, whom nodded in response.

"I'm taking down the leader." she called quickly as a small grin curled her lips.

"Then I call taking out the smaller Heartless." Donald said with a wide smirk on his features.

"Whelp...I guess I'll be lookin' out for everyone's safety." Goofy said, him giving a brief shrug when he turned to the Queen and Alice beside her.

"Please stay safe...all of you." the blond-haired girl said with a short, yet nervous gaze to each of the three.

"Don't worry...we'll be back soon." Sora said with a wider grin and wink before she and Donald went running off into the forest next to the large field.

"Guess we'll just have to wait here till they get back." Goofy said silently, yet he was soon knocked to the ground as a figure rushed at Alice.

Whom wasn't able to even let out a scream before she vanished from sight, which left the cowering Queen alone in the field. "Please don't come for me next." she whispered out in fear as she kept her head covered by her arms.

All the while, Sora helped Donald fight a large group of Heartless during her search. Though the brown-haired girl found it odd that the creatures only began to appear after the two entered the forest. 'You'd think that they'd be everywhere.' she thought briefly before finishing off the next 'wave'.

This lead for Sora and Donald to finally split up and venture to different areas of the forest. But most of the area around the blue-eyed girl was just a lot of oversize grass, flowers and mushrooms. "Hmm...this place is bizarre, but it's actually kinda interesting." she muttered out to herself with a small smirk.

"'Bizarre'...'interesting', are they not always one in the same?" a voice spoke out from the side, to which Sora quickly looked around to find the source.

Yet she couldn't see anything as she continued to search, though it wasn't until a widely grinning mouth appearing in the shadows of one of the mushrooms that Sora let out a brief yelp. "W-Who're you?" the brown-haired teen all but squeaked out with blinking eyes.

"'Who'? Who indeed. But why ask 'who'? When you can ask 'where'?" the mouth said as a pair of eyes rolled down from the shadows to stop the correct spot over the mouth.

Though Sora blinked even more to this as a body soon took form around the eyes and mouth to create a rather fat, purple striped cat. "Um...alright, where?" the girl questioned with a raised brow.

"'Where', what?" the cat asked with its' calm, yet somewhat playful voice as he jumped on top of the mushroom and tilted his head to the side slightly.

"You just told me to ask 'where', rather than 'who'." Sora explained with a light sweat drop at the feline.

"Who went where?" the cat questioned as he turned his head so far that it went upside-down, while the rest of his body remained stationary.

"No...I..." Sora started before groaning and rubbing her eyes; "Well if you're not going to tell me who you are, then at least tell me if you've seen any large creatures that aren't usually found here."

"Oh...well it's quite easy for the Cheshire Cat to know who belongs where, but finding anyone who isn't found is truly a challenge." the purple cat said with a light chuckle midway through.

Yet just as Sora sighed and started heading off on her way once more, the Cheshire Cat spoke up once more. "But if you'd really like to know, he went...that way." he said with a clawed finger pointing back the way she came.

"Who did?" was all the brown-haired girl could ask as she looked back at the cat.

"Why Riku of course." he responded, to which Sora's eyes widened in response and she quickly rushed toward the open field once more.

"Though I'm afraid you can't catch up to him now." the cat started, causing the girl to pause in her steps and glance back to him.

"He's long gone and only the shadows remain. And once they take the key hole...they take the world. Which means even the maddest around will be thrown in the dark, never to see daylight again." he continued, which make Sora's eyes narrow.

"And if you're looking for the darkest of shadows, why...you only need to turn on the lights." the cat said silently as he suddenly appeared on Sora's shoulder.

But despite this feline feeling completely weightless on her, Sora barely paid attention to this as she thought about what his words meant. "Key hole? Lights?" she muttered out silently.

"The room with the door knob!" she stated before she rushed through the forest back the way she came.

However, the Cheshire Cat remained on her shoulder as he continued to grin widely; "You're a sharp one with just the right hint of mad, you're exactly the hero we've all been waiting for." he said silently before disappearing.

This leaving Sora alone to rush through the field and back toward the door she used to get there. All the while, Goofy remained unconscious with the Queen using him as a shield for the emptiness around her. Yet the brown-haired girl didn't bother noticing this as her mind was too focused on getting to the door knob.

Upon arriving at the door, she swung it open, only to see a tall Heartless standing in front of it. This Heartless had spindly legs resembling scissor jacks, along with arms that appeared like they were made of paper. These limbs were black in color, while it held purple and lavender striped clubs in each of its hands. The head of this Heartless was made of several segments balanced on top of each other, which all sported its own face of yellow eyes and a jagged mouth. These segments themselves also alternated in color from red to black. Though it wore black armor with large, red shoulder pads and a black codpiece, it also had a very thin and small red body. Lastly, its flat feet were curled upward at the tips, while much of its upper body and head sported gold highlights.

"Well...you're a tall one, huh?" Sora muttered out as the Heartless stood even higher than the table, despite looking like it too had been shrunk down.

Though immediately following her comment, the Heartless began to juggle the clubs in its hands. These of which shooting out random fireballs that Sora had to jump or roll out of the way to dodge. Said girl's eyes narrowing slightly as she looked up at this Heartless while starting to run further away from it.

'This one seems to know some magic, I wonder if it'll be more difficult than the last 'boss'. Though...if it's a fire user, then ice should level the playing field pretty easily.' the brown-haired girl thought as she jumped away from another few fireballs.

Yet Sora soon found that each of these had followed her a few extra feet before finally hitting the floor behind her. 'Looks like it can use the tracking magic Merlin taught me as well. I guess I'm gonna have to keep track of each of the fire balls it shoots out.' she thought quickly as she quickly turned around to face the Heartless.

However, since its legs were so long, it easily caught up to Sora and was about to stomp down on her with one of its feet. But rather than making the teen rush or jump out of the way, she merely brought her Keyblade up and deflected the Heartless' foot to the side. This causing it to trip over its own leg and go tumbling to the floor as the clubs scattered everywhere.

The brown-haired teen smirked to this briefly before looking around and seeing three fire balls circling in the air before coming down toward her. This leading for Sora to rush to the side in order to bring these magic attacks in a line behind her. Once they were in the correct position, the girl immediately ran toward the large Heartless, which was trying to stand up back to its feet. Yet the moment Sora jumped over its rising body, each of the fireballs hit the side of its head.

Upon impact, the Heartless fell right back to the floor and directly in front of Sora as she gathered up both ice and wind magic. After a brief moment, the teen took on a smile as she pointed her Keyblade at her opponent; "Glacier Wave!" she called out loudly as her whole body glowed a bright blue from her magic.

Upon these words, a huge blast of ice magic engulfed the Heartless, to which it soon froze over within seconds. But moments later, the ice shattered apart and caused the tall create to disappear like the many Heartless before it. However, unlike the others, this one yielded a large heart-shaped crystal that soon vanished after rising into the air.

After this victory, Sora smirked lightly before sighing in a bit of exhaustion; "Looks like everything went as planned, but man...those advanced spells are still pretty tough to pull off." she muttered silently as she looked up.

'Though I'm glad I didn't use other smaller spells before hand, otherwise I would have been just as tired as I was after my fight with Leon.' the brown-haired teen continued in her mind before narrowing her eyes.

'But now that I have a moment...what was Riku doing here? That cat said that he was here and that he left, so it could only mean that he likely didn't arrive here immediately following our island disappearing. So how is he going between worlds? And did he even look for Kairi and me?' she thought to herself as she tilted her head down.

Yet she was soon brought out of her thoughts as Donald and Goofy came rushing thought the door. "Sora!" they both called out in unison.

However, as they ran up toward her, the brown-haired teen blinked a few times and squatted down quickly; "Duck!" she yelled as a stray fire ball came flying over her head and and toward Donald.

This leading for said duck to let out a quacking yelp and jump to the side, to which Goofy caught him in midair with blinking eyes. All the while, Sora tilted her head to the side and smiled sheepishly; "Oops...looks like I missed one." she mutter silently.

Though she soon took on a small grin and even giggled lightly; "Although...you look pretty adorable when you get frightened." she muttered with a teasing tone.

Of which lead for Donald to quickly jump away from his friend and puff his feathers at her comment. "Who was frightened? Nothing frightens me!" he declared with his chest puffing up this time.

"Right~." was all Sora said with a wider grin, her simply tilting her head to the other side.

"Why I oughta..." Donald muttered out as he waved a feathered fist in the air briefly.

But the teen just chuckling lightly to him, to which she tilted her head up in thought for a few moments; 'I'm actually kinda surprised that we're getting along so well. We just met a couple hours ago.' she mused to herself with a soft smirk curling her lips.

But she was quickly brought away from this thought as Goofy quickly spoke up; "We don't have time for that Donald! Alice is missin'!"

"What?!" Sora exclaimed with a gasp as she looked to the door, her ready to run through it.

The brown-haired girl only being stopped by Goofy as he brought his gloved hands up; "It won't do any good...the one who took her had gone an' knocked me out first, just moments after you an' Donald left." he started as he pointed to a small bump on his head.

"So we can assume that it wasn't a Heartless or even anyone from this here world." he continued, to which Sora blinked in response.

"How do you know that?" she questioned, her still looking toward the door in order to find the blond-haired girl.

"Because that's what the Queen said." Donald chipped in as he gave a brief shrug of his shoulders.

"That's right...she said it was no one she'd ever seen before. So me and Donald talked it through...and we're thinkin' that it might have been someone from another world." Goofy said with a nod of his head at the end.

Yet this only served to make Sora's eyes widen; 'Someone from another world? And even one who not only appeared soon after I had went into the forest...but also vanished before I had even talking to the Cheshire Cat. But why would Riku talk Alice? He would have no reason to.' she thought quickly before shaking her head of these questions.

Though they continued to plague her mind for a few brief moments, the brown-haired teen soon turned her attention to the door as it closed. This revealing the sleeping knob slowly waking up with a yawn; "What a racket." he said with a light, yet tired groan.

"How's a doorknob to get any sleep?" he continued before letting out another, yet louder and deeper yawn.

However, in the middle of doing this, Sora noticed what looked to be a true keyhole within his mouth. Of which caused the girl's Keyblade to shine briefly and produce a stream of light that went straight into this keyhole. This producing a silent locking noise as the trio just blinked a few times, while the doorknob merely went back to sleep.

"Huh...I didn't see that coming." Sora muttered silently, to which she looked to her Keyblade with a tilt of her head.

"It sounded like something was locked." Donald said with a brief nod in agreement to the girl's comment.

"Maybe we locked the door to this world. That means the Heartless won't be able to take it anymore, right?" Goofy said with a small smile on his features.

Each of them slowly gave a nod in response, to which Sora looked up once more in thought. "Well...if Alice was taken somewhere else, then we might find her in another world. Plus since neither of my friends are here and we saved this world from the Heartless...I guess we better be moving on." she said with a shrug of her shoulders, earning another nod from the other two.

They all then climbed up to the table and drank from the red-ringed bottle in order to return to their natural size. Upon doing so, they headed back to the room they came from and had their ship teleport them onto it. 'It couldn't have been you, right? Riku?' Sora thought briefly as they flew on to the next world.

* * *

Alright, the next world will go back to the usual three part theme...even though that was actually unintentional. But anyway, make sure not to miss the next world...there will be a lot of key moments happening there that will have some of the biggest impacts on the whole story. Oh...and just so all of you know, there are indeed going to be new worlds. As in worlds that the series doesn't have (yet). Though I'm withholding a few because of rumors that they'll be in Kingdom Hearts 3...I'm keeping the set ideas I have for them just in case. Anyway, thank you for reading and make sure to let me know what you thought of the chapter...or the series in general. And how can you do that exactly? Um...I'm pretty everyone knows already so I'd be insulting people's intelligence if I answered that. But I digress, until next time everyone~!


	10. Deep Jungle part I

Ehem...I would like to take this time to personally thank all of you who have reviewed for this story: Antex-The Legendary Zoroark and Shiranai (Both of whom have reviewed for every chapter thus far, so thank you two especially =^w^=), Luckenhaf (Who has reviewed for two chapters to date, thanks a bunch ^^), a good acquaintance of mine; Black Desires, as well as hitomi65 and Team Wingless (I hope all of you come back to read more, each of you sort of disappeared after the first chapter ^^'), also...the guest who reviewed as well (thank you, whoever you might be ;D), and lastly Bighead98 (I also hope you'll return, this was made possible because of you after all :3).

Thank you all for your support. I wasn't quite sure if I was going to continue this fic at first, but I think after coming this far...it would just be wrong of me to stop now. I couldn't do that to all of you after all. ^^ So I hope each of you will continue to enjoy this story. ;)

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 10: Deep Jungle part 1

Sora looked through the glass dome at the space around them, her smirking lightly as the ship soared across the stars. But as they came closer to one of these stars, the light shimmered briefly before revealing a world covered in green. This making it clear to all of them that this world was one with a great many forests and jungles.

"Hey Donald, do ya think the King could be down there?" Goofy asked with a glance over to said duck.

Whom of which just shook his head in response; "In a backwater place like that? Not likely." he stated with a wave of his hand toward the world, as if to dismiss it.

"We better move on." he continued as he began to turn the ship away from the forest-filled island, only to be stopped by Sora placing a hand on one of the handles to the steering wheel.

"Hold it...Riku or Kairi could be down there. I have to check every world I come across if I have any hope of finding them." the brown-haired girl stated firmly.

"Forget it...we're on a mission. Which is way more important right now." Donald retorted as he tried to jerk the steering wheel away from Sora.

However, said girl merely tightened her grip and narrowed her eyes; "And I told you that I'm only joining you to find my friends...I'm not here to save the worlds." she responded as she jerked the wheel to the side and caused the ship to start hurling down to the world below.

"And I won't be until I know Riku and Kairi are safe!" Sora continued out as the ship began it's decent toward the top of each of the trees.

But while the ship fell, it began flashing red lights while the word 'EMERGENCY' was seen on the screens all around the interior. Though after the ship came up toward the top of the tallest tree, it immediately activated the teleportation mechanism. This of which sent each of the three flying outside of the ship and into the forest below. However, due to it being an emergency transport, all of them got separated from one another.

All the while, Sora appeared in the middle of the air above what she could see was some kind of tree house. Yet she didn't get to get a good look at it as she went crashing through the roof and landed hard on the main floor.

"Okay..." she groaned out painfully as she got up slowly; "...maybe I should have just asked nicely."

After finishing these words, Sora glanced around at the rather spacious house, of which was indeed built on a very large tree. Though from what she saw, it appeared as though it had been abandoned for years. Yet it was the fact that neither Donald nor Goofy were with her that the brown-haired girl noticed first, to which she looked toward the exit almost immediately.

"I guess I should find them...and apologize for almost crashing the ship." she muttered silently with a sigh before narrowing her eyes and quickly turning around when a silent creak was heard behind her.

Instantly following her spin to face the noise, Sora saw a large leopard leaping toward her from the second floor. Though this gave the girl enough time to summon her Keyblade and swing it at the large cat as it came down toward her. But upon making contact, the brown-haired girl's weapon caused the animal to go flying back and hit the wall that held up the upper floor.

'I'll never get used to this thing's strength.' Sora thought in her mind briefly as the leopard soon got back to its feet and charged at the girl with great speed.

This quickness surprised the girl as she immediately created a barrier around herself on instinct. Of which caused the large cat to bounce off and land to the side of Sora, whom turned to face it with narrowed eyes.

"You're a fast one...aren't ya?" she muttered silently as the leopard then began to circle around Sora, both of them seeming to be waiting for the right time to attack.

"But I can be faster." the brown-haired girl continued before lightning began to surround her Keyblade and then her whole body.

"Lightning Raid!" she called out as she suddenly seemed to vanish from sight.

Yet a split second afterward, the leopard was hit by a flash of light and sent flying into the air. Though it was instantly hit by the same glimpse of lightning multiple more times before it finally hit the floor. Once the leopard did however, it collapsed with a surge of electricity rushing over its body to show that it was paralyzed from the lightning magic it was hit by.

"Now...be a good kitty and stay there." Sora said from the doorway leading out of the house, her having a smirk on her features as she walked out.

Though a few moments after reaching the end of the tree, the brown-haired girl collapsed to her knees and sighed heavily. "Yep..." she began with an exhausted sigh.

"...still not ready for that one." she finished as her breathing became deep for a few seconds, to which it returned to normal after a while.

'Boy...I'm glad I have an affinity for magic like Merlin said, otherwise...that might have been a heck of a lot tougher on me.' Sora thought as she looked around the jungle as she reached the ground.

"Hmm...which way shall I go first?" she muttered silently, to which she placed her free hand on her hip.

"You...there..." a voice suddenly spoke up from above the girl, to which she let out a rather girly yelp as she tilted her head up to look at the source of the voice.

Who she found was a very well-toned man with very strong looking limbs, very tan skin and long brown hair. Of which was very messy and appeared as though it hadn't been cut for much of his life. Though the only thing this man wore was a brown loincloth, which made Sora blink a few times and raise a brow in question. Yet it was mainly the fact that he was hanging upside-down from a vine on a tree next to the brown-haired girl.

"…are you here...with Jane?" the man continued, his voice being somewhat deep, yet it was clear that he likely wasn't used to actually speaking words at all.

"Um...not quite, but do you think you could bring me to this 'Jane'?" Sora asked back to this man, whom flipped around and landed on the ground with all four limbs.

"Yes...I can." he responded while looking the teen over curiously with a slight tilt of his head.

"Tarzan." the man soon said as he gestured to himself while standing up on his legs briefly.

"Sora." said girl introduced with a thumb pointed to herself.

"Come...I'll show you the way." Tarzan muttered as he started leading Sora through the jungle.

'Huh...he moves kinda like an ape, or maybe a gorilla. But whichever one it is...it's certainly something ya don't see every day.' Sora thought to herself with blinking eyes, her following the brown-haired man quickly.

As the two went on through the jungle, the girl kept glancing at many of the trees with the thought of seeing them before. Yet before long, they came up to a thick forest of bamboo and then to a wide open area. This being where a large campsite was set up in the form of a multiple room tent, a table used for some kind of science experiments, and lastly a series of covers for various other supplies.

Tarzan soon brought Sora inside of the tent, where a young woman with long brown hair and blue eyes sat in a chair reading. Her wearing a simple white top and long brown dress, the latter of which spread out in the air as she spun around when hearing them entering. But as she opened her mouth to speak, she closed it briefly when laying eyes upon the young girl beside Tarzan.

"Oh...and who might you be?" the woman asked with a British accent as she stood up from her seat and placed the book down on a table nearby.

"My name is Sora." said girl introduced with a small smirk and gesture to herself with a thumb.

"And I am Jane Porter, it's a pleasure. Though...what are you doing here? Are you here to study the gorillas with your parents or guardians?" the woman questioned, her leaning forward slightly with her hands being placed on her knees.

"Um...yeah." Sora said with a clearing of her throat; "Well...sort of anyway." she muttered silently as she soon looked to the curtain entrance.

Of which soon opened to reveal Donald and Goofy, along with a tall, well-built man with short, pulled back, black hair and a thin mustache. He wore a yellow, button-up shirt, a red bandanna around his neck, tan pants and brown shoes. Yet the moment Sora looked at him, her eyes narrowed slightly in response as she seemed to be able to tell he wasn't the trust worthy type.

"'Sort of' indeed." the man began with his own deep voice, him also having a British accent.

"I believe these two are your 'guardians' for the circus, eh?" he continued with a tone that showed his own distrust toward the girl and even of the two anthropomorphic animals.

"Mr. Clayton, don't be so rude." Jane demanded as she had immediately noticed his tone, to which the man quickly put his hands up to admit defeat before walking out of the tent

"Well...I guess you could actually say that they're my guardians." Sora said with a shrug of her shoulders, to which she looked between Donald and Goofy.

"Oh...and sorry about dragging us all here. I'm just really desperate to find my friends." she continued with a sheepish smile and apologetic tone.

Goofy just gave a smile and nod in return as to show his forgiveness of the brown-haired girl's actions. Donald however seemed to let out a huff and look to the side with his arms crossed; "Yeah well...if they're 'that' important to you, I guess it would be alright to visit each place we travel near enough to. It would also help in our mission." he responded with another huff at the end.

This made Sora blink at him briefly before grinning, picking him up in her arms and hugging him tightly. "Thanks Donald." she said happily, her giggling lightly at the white duck's futile flailing to get free.

"Hey! Put me down!" he exclaimed during his struggles, though he slowly gained a small smirk on his features.

"By the way Sora, we found this on the ground a little bit ago." Goofy began as he brought out what looked like an orange cube with multiple spots of various colors on it.

"What's that?" Sora asked with blinking eyes, despite still holding a flailing Donald in her arms.

"It's a gummi block...the same kind that makes up our ship. So it means that the King could actually be here." the anthropomorphic dog explained with a small smile.

"Oh my...you're looking for your friends, are you?" Jane questioned with blinking eyes and a tilt of her head to the other side now.

The brown-haired girl turned to the woman with a nod before putting Donald down and clearing her throat. "Yes...it's the reason why I followed Tarzan here, and likely the reason why they followed that Clayton guy." she began with a brief glance to Donald and Goofy, her then stepping forward and gesturing to her hair.

"My one friend has silver colored hair and is a little bit taller than me." she continued with a tilt of her head to Jane, whom soon shook her head in response.

"Sorry...I haven't seen anyone of that description or anyone else besides Tarzan and the local animals in this jungle." the woman responded with a downward tilt of her head.

"Right...well thanks for letting me know." Sora said with a shrug as she too looked down for a few moments, to which Donald and Goofy mirrored this gesture.

"Friends...here." Tarzan spoke up suddenly, causing everyone to turn toward him quickly.

"*&&#%" the brown-haired man continued as he seemed to grunt something out which everyone could only assume was some form of gorilla or monkey speech.

"Um...and that means?" Sora questioned with blinking eyes and a brief sweat drop.

Though Tarzan looked up in thought, it was clear that he likely didn't know the answer himself either. This showing that his knowledge of speaking things other than gorilla was still quite shallow. Sora soon looked down once more for a brief moment before she glanced toward Jane with a thumb gestured to Tarzan.

"Do you think you could teach him a few more things? I'd like to know what he meant by that, but in the meantime...I'm going to start my own search." she said with high determination in her eyes.

Jane blinked to her briefly, to which she then gave a nod in response and started bringing out books from the shelves off to the side. "Alright...best of luck in finding your friends, though come back here if you run into any trouble. Also…let me know if you come across any gorillas on your way. I would love to have a possible 'hot spot' for my studies." she said as she stacked all of the books she gathered into one pile.

"You got it." Sora responded with a thumbs out and smirk, to which she then turned to Donald and Goofy.

"We should probably split up...we'll cover more ground that way." she continued as she gave a short nod of her head to the pair.

Both of whom returned the gesture as they soon left the tent to leave Jane and Tarzan alone to learn from each other. Yet after going outside, Clayton was standing there waiting for them, to which Sora immediately narrowed her eyes at him.

"Pardon me, but I couldn't help overhear your conversation. If it's a search through the jungle, then you'll need an escort...after all, the jungle is a dangerous place." the raven-haired man said as a small, yet almost unnoticeable grin curled his lips.

"Thanks...but no thanks, I think we'll manage." Sora stated as she just headed off on her way, leaving Clayton to try his luck in asking Donald and Goofy if they would like his services.

Though it sounded as if they too turned him down, the brown-haired girl didn't pay any mind to them as she rushed back into the forest. But as Sora began her search, she continuously broke the branches on the trees she passed by in order to keep track of where she had been. However, it was after one of these snaps that Sora instantly saw a figure off to the side in the corner of her eye.

Her full attention immediately went to this person as they seemed to disappear behind a tree. Yet it didn't take long for Sora to rush over toward it and saw a single person standing there with a soft smile on their features. "You always know where to find me." they said silently with a light giggle.

"Kairi..." the brown-haired girl whispered silently upon looking at said girl in front of her.

* * *

Btw...I would also like to thank everyone who has either favored or followed this story.

For the list of 'favorerer's?': Antex-The Legendary Zoroark, DragonFreak1995, FanWriterForever, FenixxS, Freerunner4427, Greatwestern1522, Hershey gurl, Pikapikaluv, Vanitas' Queen21, Zweig, goodwin761, grapejuice101, hitomi65, shadowmwape and xxHinaAngelxx.

Then all of the followers: Antex-The Legendary Zoroark, DragonFreak1995, FenixxS, Hershey gurl, Pikapikaluv, Zweig, goodwin761, hitomi65, shadowmwape, Lugiaman14, Shiranai Atsune, Tanya Dinocrisis01, TheAbsolutistisCreed, Tora19Kage, khaddiction101, maxfan28535 and starlight luna.

Thank all of you so very much for supporting this story, I hope to continue entertaining you all the way till the very end. Till next time everyone~! ^^


	11. Deep Jungle part II

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 11: Deep Jungle part 2

"Kairi..." Sora muttered out silently as she looked at said girl leaning against a tree with a soft smile.

Though as the two looked at one another, something in the pit of the brown-haired girl's stomach told her that something was off. Yet she just smiled softly to her friend and kept her gaze on her, Sora not wanting Kairi to vanish the moment she looked away like last time. Yet such a moment would come as a low growl was heard right behind Sora, whose eyes widened briefly before turning around quickly. Her soon seeing the same leopard as before, which let out a roar as it soon leapt toward the spiky-haired teen.

Whom of which summoned her Keyblade and knocked the large cat away in a similar fashion as last time. However, immediately following this attack, the leopard jumped back to its feet and charged at Sora once more. But while it seemed as though it was in the same manner as their first fight, it was clear that it was much different this time.

Once the cat came with range of Sora's Keyblade, it quickly changed direction, moved to the side and made a swiping attack. The brown-haired girl narrowed her eyes to this as she used a Reflect spell in order to prevent the blow from hitting. Yet while this shield magic was up, Sora glanced where Kairi was and instantly noticed her disappearance.

'Just like before...she just vanishes the moment I turn away. But why am I seeing her like this? I've never hallucinated before, so what's happening?' she thought briefly to herself before focusing fully on her opponent.

Of which had begun circling around her once more as the spell wore off and left her vulnerable for attack once more. But the large cat didn't make a move right away, it seeming to be watching very carefully of what Sora was going to do. This making said girl raise a brow briefly, to which she soon smirked and brought her Keyblade out to her side slightly.

"And here I thought you hadn't learned from your mistake." she muttered as she began to side step to her right, which allowed the two to make a small circle between them.

"But I'm afraid...I'm way out of your league." Sora continued as she brought her Keyblade forward.

Though this sparked the leopard to make a lunging attack, a sudden burst of light came out from the tip of the teen's weapon. This causing the large cat to suddenly stop in the middle of the air, to which Sora just smirked lightly and let out a breath. "Now then...lets finish this once and for all." she muttered with narrowed eyes.

Immediately following her words, Sora leaned to her right slightly with her knees bending as she prepared to attack. Yet while doing this, her body and Keyblade began to glow a bright orange, while her legs were surrounded by wind magic. "Inferno Dash!"

Upon calling this out, the Stopra spell wore off on the leopard and allowed it to continued its attack at Sora. Yet said girl had suddenly vanished from sight just before the large cat could hit her, to which she then appeared a few yards behind it with her Keyblade pouting forward. This lead for the leopard to be briefly engulfed in flames before landing on the ground with a limp thud.

"Sorry...but I can't let you eat me, I have people waiting for me." Sora said silently as she dismissed her Keyblade and rushed on through the jungle.

'Though thinking about it...that leopard was really quite tough. I didn't think it would have been able to move so soon after getting hit by my Lightning Raid. I suppose I still have a bit to go in order to perfect my techniques.' she thought as she continued on her way, breaking branches the whole time.

'Then again...if I got to where I am after only a few hours of training, I wonder how good I'd be if I spent a full day or two practicing.' she continued with a small grin, her pace slowing down as her thoughts began to distract her a bit.

But she was quickly brought out of these musings as she soon arrived in a lagoon filled with many hippos swimming around in the water. "Huh...I always thought hippos were a bit ugly, but they actually don't look all that bad." she whispered to herself with a glace at the surrounding area.

As she did this, Sora noticed a vine on the opposite side of the lagoon that appeared to lead all the way up to the highest point in the tree it hung from. 'Hmm...it should be easier to spot them if I'm at a higher vantage point.' she thought, to which she headed toward the edge of the water and took in a deep breath.

"Alright...here we go." she said silently before jumping onto the back of one of the nearby hippos.

Though a few moments later, Sora growled silently as she stood on the opposite side of the lagoon. Her whole body completely drenched in water, to which she squeezed out her hoodie in order to get it somewhat dry.

"Hmph! Jumping on the back of a hippo was a stupid idea anyway." she muttered bitterly with a huff as she soon put her hoodie back on and started to climb the vine she had been aiming for.

Upon finally reaching the top and bringing herself up onto the large tree branch, she started to look around once more. "Hmm...now then, lets see if I can find Riku or Kair-" she started, but was cut off the moment the echoing sound of a gun being fired was heard.

"Oh~...this is definitely not going to be good." Sora muttered with a heavy sigh, to which she looked in the direction of the gun shot.

She then turned away and started looking around the jungle floor in order to find her friends. Yet it was clear that she was distracted by the previous sound of the gun, she still kept her gaze on anything and everything that was moving down below. However, she never saw anyone or even anything, save for a bunch of bugs. Though after a while, Sora soon looked up in thought with a sigh and gazed at all of the leaves falling from the branches above her.

'I guess I'm not really thinking logically in this search, am I?' she started in her mind as she closed her eyes briefly.

"Then again, when it comes to Kairi...and I suppose Riku as well, I don't really think very logically." Sora muttered aloud with another, yet heavier sigh.

'In reality...both Riku and Kairi more than likely would have gotten to the campsite right away. I mean, it's the only sign of civilization around. Or they would have at least started calling out for someone if they really were here. And Jane says she hasn't seen anyone...plus, I'm sure she would have mentioned hearing someone calling out for help.' the brown-haired girl continued in her thoughts as she let out another, yet more silent breath.

'Even though I do want to keep looking, all the evidence points to them not being here. So I guess I'll leave it to Jane and Tarzan to let me know if they were simply in another part of the jungle. Plus, with that leopard gone...there should be next to nothing that could hurt them. And since it was hunting me, it's safe to assume it was still hungry and that it hadn't eaten at all before coming to find me.' she finished with a brief nod of her head, yet seconds after these thoughts, Sora heard a whining coming from the side.

This made the girl immediately turn toward this new sound and rush across the branch. She then jumped off the edge, caught a vine before her and swung across to another tree with a big enough branch for her to stand on. Despite these actions being the first time Sora had done such a thing, she was too concentrated on this whining to care about how exhilarating it had been.

After she used another vine to swing herself to the other side of the tree, she then began her decent to the ground as fast as possible. Upon doing so, Sora looked around quickly as the origin of the sound was coming from near of where she was standing. Though it didn't take long to find out what was making this noise as the brown-haired girl soon laid her eyes on a baby leopard.

"Oh no..." she whispered silently, her gaze tilting down in shame and sadness; "...I just made you an orphan, didn't I?" Sora continued quietly as her voice cracked from her guilt.

Yet even as she did this, the baby leopard looked to her with an innocent tilt of its head, to which it slowly crawled out of the small nest of leaves. But despite Sora not paying attention, the baby soon came up to her and started to rub her leg gently with a few silent meows at her. This made the brown-haired girl blink many times before looking from the baby, to the rest of the jungle and back again.

"Well...I'm not about to make a baby suffer for my mistake." she said silently before leaning down, petting the top of the leopard's head and eventually picking it up.

Despite the baby not seeming to like being picked up like this, after a few scratches to its head and neck, it soon calmed down. Yet what surprised Sora was he fact that after a few moments of scratching the top of the baby's head, it started to let out a noise that sounded like a purr. "Huh...I thought big cats couldn't purr." she muttered silently before smiling softly to the kitten.

"Well..." she started before looked the cat over and noticing its gender; "...little girl, how about I call you; Spotty?" Sora questioned with a tilt of her head as she started to head back toward the camp.

After this inquiry, the cat just sneezed lightly, to which the brown-haired girl chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Yeah...that is pretty generic, huh? Hmm...how about; Whiskers the Wonder Cat~?!" she asked with great enthusiasm.

The cat then just let out a meow in response, to which Sora chuckled once more and shrugged briefly while continuing on her way back. "Guess I really am not all that good with names, huh?" the brown-haired girl said with a sheepish tone.

A few minutes later and half a dozen more 'rejected' names, Sora arrived back at the camp just as Jane could be heard scolding Clayton. "How could you do such a thing?!" she demanded loudly.

"Now Miss Porter, as I told you, I was not aiming for the gorilla." was the man's response in a clearly nervous tone.

"You are not to go near the gorillas again! In fact...I want you to stay here in the camp for the remainder of this expedition!" Jane ordered as the anger in her voice was easily noticed.

"All because of one mishap? Come now." Clayton said with a light chuckle, though after a brief moment, he backed out of the tent with a nervous laugh.

Though upon doing so, he nearly bumped into Sora as she soon hid the baby leopard in the hood of her hoodie. This keeping her out of sight as the man soon turned to the brown-haired girl with an expression of annoyance. "Hmph...I have no time to be wasting with you imbeciles." was all he said before storming off in a huff into the jungle.

Sora raised a brow to this before rolling her eyes; "Tch...I knew that guy was a jerk." she muttered silently as she crossed her arms.

As she did this, the leopard brought her front paws onto the right side of Sora's neck and gazed out over her shoulder. "Am I right?" she asked with a small smile to the baby, to which she received a light meow in response.

Sora giggled lightly before she walked into the tent and looked around at everyone gathered in the middle. While Jane spoke to Tarzan, Donald and Goofy whispered among themselves about their next move. This making it obvious that they too came up empty for their search, despite it likely having been cut short from Clayton's actions.

"Oh Sora...you returned rather quickly, did you find your friends?" Jane asked with a tilt of her head as she turned to the teen.

"Unfortunately not...though I did find a new friend." Sora responded as she moved her head to the side slightly so it was easier to see the small cat's head on the girl's shoulder.

Though Tarzan briefly tensed up, he seemed to calm down after seeing the kitten rubbing its head against Sora's neck affectionately. "Sabor offspring...she likes you." the tan man said with a brief nod.

The brown-haired girl smirked lightly and nodded her head back to him; "Indeed she does." she muttered silently before glancing between Jane and Tarzan.

"So...did you figure out what it was that he had said before?" Sora continued with blinking eyes, her reaching up and scratching the top of the baby leopard's head.

"Yes...I believe we have." Jane started as she placed a hand to her chest; "I believe what he said means-" but she was cut off as a gun shot was heard just outside of the campsite.

This caused all of them to immediately rush out of the tent, only to see a large group of Heartless swarming the campsite. Half of them seemed to be in some sort of money or ape form, while the others were in the usual shape. Sora narrowed her eyes to this as she brought forth her Keyblade and glanced around quickly.

"Donald, Goofy...both of you stay inside the tent with Tarzan and Jane. Make sure to keep them safe, I'll take care of the rest of them!" she ordered out quickly without even looking at the pair.

The two anthropomorphic animals quickly nodded in response to her and lead the two adults back into the tent. All the while, the brown-haired teen took a few steps forward and readied her weapon; "Alright...time to show you that you're in good hands." she whispered with a glance to the cat in her hood.

Sora then turned to a few of the Heartless as a few rushed toward her, to which she hit them with her Keyblade and caused them to disappear with a puff of black smoke. Soon after doing this, a few of the Heartless stood back, while another bunch rushed at her with even greater speed than the previous group. However, they met their own end as Sora used a Thundra spell on half a dozen of them all at once.

"Anyone else?" the brown-haired girl asked as many of the Heartless soon vanished in a swirl of dark energy.

Though a pair of normal looking ones still remained, neither of them made a move to attack her, nor even moved at all. "And what about you two?" she questioned with a raised brow.

Yet after a moment they both just bowed slightly and made Sora blink a few times; "Um...okay." Sora muttered in confusion.

But after a brief moment, she suddenly recalled the 'dream' she had the other day; 'Wait a second, does this mean...I can command them?' she thought quickly as her eyes blinked even faster.

"Alright...um...both of you...uh...stand on one foot." she said with a halfway authoritative tone, to which she almost gasped in response when the pair of Heartless soon did as they were told.

"Okay...this might actually be pretty cool." Sora muttered out with a small grin on her features as the kitten let out a meow as if in agreement.

* * *

And there you have it, two big changes in the story have been revealed. Her ability to control the Heartless has been brought forth...as well as the arrival of her new companion. ;) And yes, she'll be keeping the leopard (whose name will be revealed soon). Well, I hope you all enjoyed. Until next time everyone~! ^^


	12. Deep Jungle part III

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 12: Deep Jungle part 3

"Hmm...alright, now try leaning against each other's backs while doing a handstand." Sora said as the two Heartless in front of her soon did as they were told.

This making her grin widely and chuckle, yet she eventually cleared her throat and looked around. Her quickly remembering why she went outside the tent in the first place, to which she glanced around the area. However, there was no sign of Clayton, nor even any noise in the forest around the campsite. 'I wonder where he ran off to.' she thought to herself before turning the two Heartless as they were still doing a handstand.

Sora then cleared her throat once more and waved a hand to the pair; "O-Okay, you can go back to usual now. I need you both to help me find Clayton." she said, to which the Heartless soon went back to standing normally.

"He's the guy with the shot gun, you know him...right?" Sora asked as she glanced between the pair, both of which just looked from her to each other.

"Um..." she stated again, her looking up in thought as she tapped her chin.

"Ah!" the brown-haired girl exclaimed before grinning and looking at the Heartless; "He's the jerk with a dark heart!" she stated with a nod as she knew that the creatures would probably understand such a thing.

However, the duo just continued to stare at her blankly and even tilt their heads as if confused. This making Sora sigh and wave a hand once more in response; "Never mind...just follow me." she muttered with a light groan before she then started to head toward a gathering of bamboo shoots.

The girl quickly noticed that many of them were cut down to create a path. Despite this being there before, she figured it was a good place to resume her search since there was no other sign of Clayton going anywhere. All the while, Sora glanced behind her briefly as the two Heartless had begun to follow after her. "Huh...they're almost like pets or something." she muttered silently with a small smile.

This received a light meow from the leopard in her hood, to which she giggled in response; "No...you're not a pet...you're..." she began before looking up in thought.

Though after a moment, she eventually snapped her fingers and glanced to the baby cat with a grin. "You're my little sister~!" she sang out happily, to which the infant leopard let out another meow in response.

"I thought you might like that." Sora said with a wider smile and a wink, though this soon turned to a frown as another gun shot was heard directly ahead.

But what really caught her attention was the roar that followed afterward, to which Sora immediately rushed through the bamboo forest faster. All the while, the baby kitten hid inside of her hood as deep into as she could. Though as the teen ran on, she eventually came into a large gorge. Where of which, many gorillas were surrounded by a large group of Heartless. Yet Clayton was standing in the middle with his gun pointed at the first group and a grin on his features.

"Finally...now I will be rich beyond my wildest dreams once I take ever last one of your corpses to the mainland." the man said darkly as he aimed his gun at the largest of the gorillas.

"Starting with you." he continued as he began to squeeze the trigger, yet he was stopped as a blast of ice suddenly froze his whole hand over.

"Don't even think about it!" Sora called out with narrowed eyes as she glanced around briefly.

Her noticing that none of the gorillas were injured yet, which made it obvious that the shot she heard was likely to scare all of them into one place. Though she soon aimed her Keyblade at the man as he struggled to break the ice on his hand. "I'm not going to let you hurt them." she said firmly, to which she looked over to the two Heartless behind her.

"You two take out the other Heartless...Clayton is mine." Sora all but growled out as she readied her weapon and rushed toward the man.

Whom ended up having his gun knocked out of his hands as he brought it up to block the girl's swing. But despite it still being frozen to his hand, the force of her attack broke not only the ice, but the gun as well.

"Tch! I won't let you stop me now!" he called out before pulling out the machete strapped to his side and slashed it downward at her.

As Sora parried the man's blade to the side, she then kicked him hard in the stomach. This causing him to gasp and stumble backward with a groan in pain; "You'll pay for that." he growled out before rushing at the teen to tackle her.

However, the brown-haired girl just stood there with a smirk as Clayton soon ran face-first into a Reflera spell that surrounded Sora. "Sorry...what was that?" the teen asked with a small grin before allowing the barrier to dissipate before hitting the man across the face with her Keyblade.

Immediately following this attack, the man fell to the ground unconscious after dropping his weapon. This making Sora just smirk before looking over to her two Heartless attacking the others. Yet while they were very clumsy with their attacks, the other Heartless didn't seem to know what to do.

"Must be very odd for them to actually be attacked by their own kind." Sora muttered silently with blinking eyes and a tilt of her head.

Though immediately following each of the Heartless' defeat, the hearts the were released had been absorbed into each of her own Heartless. But after one of them finished its fifth opponent, it suddenly gained a dark aura. This making Sora blink even more in response and even ready her weapon as she wasn't sure of what to expect.

Soon after the aura died down, it revealed the Heartless to have grown in size to the point of being about double the normal height. Despite looking the same as it did before, the Heartless looked as if it had become more powerful.

'Whoa...now that was unexpected. Does that mean...the Heartless can evolve the more hearts they have?' Sora questioned in her mind as she then turned toward the second Heartless, which soon went through the same transformation.

"I guess that's a 'yes'." she whispered before she soon glowed a bright yellow color before using a Thundara spell to finish off the rest of the Heartless aside from her own two.

"Hmm...I guess now all that's left to do is to find the 'boss' in this world and the-" but she was soon cut off as she noticed something in the corner of her eye.

Yet she wasn't able to react fast enough before something nearly invisible hit her right into the side of the gorge. Sora gasping upon the impact, to which her body crumbled to the ground and she narrowed her eyes on the large chameleon-like Heartless that came up before her. Though as it brought a hand up to attack her, the largest of the gorillas slammed his whole body into the Heartless to knock it away.

Sora blinked in response to this as she slowly got back to her feet, to which she looked at the gorilla with a tilt of her head. Yet the silver-backed animal just looked back to her and huffed lightly and turned back to the Heartless with a low growl. This made the teen smirk lightly and ready her weapon once more out in front of her.

"Alright...lets show this guy the true nature of the jungle." she said silently before she rushed at the Heartless along with the gorilla.

After coming close enough, the large chameleon swung a fist toward Sora, yet she slid under this and came up within feet of the Heartless' face. All the while, the gorilla ran to the back, grabbed the creature's tail and yanked back with all his might. This causing the chameleon's back legs to slip, then for its body to to fall forward and right into Sora's Keyblade. Her swinging it strongly at her opponent's face in the same instant.

Her attack caused the Heartless to be lifted into the air, making it easier for the gorilla to pull even harder on its tail. This effectively allowing him to throw the chameleon over his shoulder and hard onto the ground. Immediately following the impact, Sora used an Aerora spell to send herself high into the air, where she began to hover and gain a very bright yellow aura. 'I hope I can pull this one off better than last time.' she thought briefly as she swung her Keyblade to the side and behind her.

However, the weapon soon began to circle around Sora faster and faster as both it and the teen gained a large amount of lightning magic around them. Though as this continued, Sora brought her right hand up with her thumb and two fingers pointed at the sky. She then slowly gripped her right forearm with her left hand and narrowed her eyes.

Once she did this, the electricity around her increased greatly and began to form a small tornado around her with the Keyblade spinning at great speed around the very top. Yet as the Heartless began to get up, Sora smirked lightly and swung her hand down so her fingers pointed at it.

"Thundra Cyclone!" she called out as the tornado of lightning shifted it's direction with her arm and immediately flew down at he Heartless with the Keyblade at the front.

Upon impact, their was a large explosion of electricity that made each of the gorillas back away in response. Though it soon cleared away, which showed the Heartless disappearing from the attack. This producing a large crystal-like heart floating away from it before vanishing into the air, just like the others.

Yet Sora soon landed on the ground with grace and caught her Keyblade just before it was about to hit the ground. Her weapon having been thrown back into the air after hitting the Heartless with the built-up lightning magic. "Well...that went better than before." the teen commented with a light sigh, to which she gained small grin and chuckled softly.

She then took a glance over to the two Heartless that had followed her as they suddenly vanished into the ground. Sora smirked lightly to this before she then allowed her Keyblade to disappear, to which she then turned to the largest gorilla and smiled to him. "We made a pretty good team there, huh?" she asked as she soon grinned once more.

Despite not understanding her words, the gorilla seemed to understand what she was saying just from her expressions and body language. This lead for him to briefly huff lightly and look to each of the other gorillas, whom where left unharmed from all the attacks. After confirming this, he turned back to Sora and gave another huff, yet it seemed a bit softer this time.

"Sora!" Donald suddenly called out from the side, to which said teen turned to see not only the duck, but also Goofy, Tarzan and even Jane.

"Kerchak..." Tarzan muttered silently as he looked at the large silver-back gorilla.

Though there was a moment of Kerchak and Tarzan speaking in what seemed to be 'gorilla', the large animal soon grabbed Sora by the back of her hoodie. This made her blink a few times before she was suddenly tossed over the gorge's end and onto a bush just off shore of a large river. Yet soon after landing, she was soon joined by Donald, Goofy and Jane, to which they all just blinked a few times in response.

However, Tarzan soon came climbing up to join them and even smiled lightly at each of the four. "Kerchak show you our home. Kerchak trust you. Kerchak and family are friend." he said as he gestured to his heart at the end.

Sora blinked once more before she slowly smiled back to him, to which she then looked around at the river and the waterfall that fed it. "This is your home?" she muttered silently with a small smirk.

"It's beautiful." the brown-haired girl continued before looking to Tarzan as he gestured for them to follow him.

Though he lead them to the waterfall, they soon went behind it and into a large cavern that was just beyond a gathering of roots from the surrounding trees above. Yet once they came up to the end of the cavern, they saw an opening high up in the ceiling of the cave. This allowing enough light in to see what looked like a large stone with moss growing on its surface. However, it was the key-shaped hole in the middle of it that caught everyones attention.

'The keyhole to this world?' the teen thought with blinking eyes.

"*&&#%" Tarzan said silently as he gestured to the key hole, to which Sora just tilted her head and looked to Jane.

Whom returned the teen's gaze and nodded her head briefly; "Oh yes...I never got to tell you what that meant." she started before she place a hand over her chest.

"It means 'heart'." she finished with a small smile on her features, to which Sora blinked a few times.

'He knows this is the 'heart' of his world?' Sora questioned in her mind as she looked at Tarzan in slight shock.

'I guess I wasn't the only one to believe that the worlds have a heart as well.' she thought with a soft smile curling her lips, to which she summoned her key blade and allowed a beam of light to go into the key hole in front of her.

Immediately following this, the hole itself vanished, yet the shape remained thanks to the moss that had grown around it. "Looks like this place is safe for a while." Sora said silently before looking to Tarzan and Jane.

"Thank you both for your help." she said with a small smile as she gave a brief bow to them.

"You're leaving? So soon?" Jane asked in a worried tone, her tilting her head slightly.

"Yeah...but don't worry, we'll be back to visit." the brown-haired teen responded with a wink and thumbs up.

Though she soon looked at Tarzan and raised a brow as he stood up in a more straight pose; "See you again soon." he said, bringing out a hand as if to shake.

Sora blinked briefly before smiling and taking his hand and shaking it quickly; "You got it." she said with a grin and nod of her head.

* * *

 **And there you have it, Deep Jungle is complete. ;) Stay tuned for more next week...also, the first new and unique world will be after Olympus Coliseum. Though I want to keep it as a surprise, I will say this; the name of the world will be 'Dark Swamp'. Also, I'm very review hungry...any and all reviews are appreciated. ;3 So don't be shy...feed me more. ;D Until next time everyone~!**


	13. Traverse Town part IV

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 13: Traverse Town part 4

"Um...I'm not sure I'm even qualified to take care of a baby leopard." Merlin said with a heavy sweat drop and nervous tone.

"I know...but I don't know where else to leave her while I'm out on my search." Sora said with a sheepish smile and scratch behind her neck.

All the while, Archimedes was fending off said kitten with a spoon as she was trying to pounce on him. "I think she is a menace and should be locked up in a cage!" the owl stated before having to fly away from another 'attack' from the baby leopard.

Whom was meowing lightly at the bird, as if complaining that he wasn't playing fair. Though she soon went over to Sora and meowed once more to gain her attention. The brown-haired girl sit at the table across from Merlin, to which she then lifted up the leopard and brought her into her arms. "Please Merlin? I promise that I'll stop by to help out as often as I can." she pleaded with a light pout with her bottom lip.

This making the old wizard let out a heavy breath and shrug in response; "Well...I suppose I can't refuse. Especially considering how important your mission is." he said with a small smile curling his bearded features.

"Though I do hope that you'll make sure to attend my classes on a frequent basis...and not just the magic ones." he continued as he pointed up in the air.

"You need a great education as well as great magic in order to become a truly grand mage." Merlin finished with a nod at his own words, to which Sora mirrored this gesture in response.

"Of course...my next visit will be about Algebra, right?" the brown-haired girl asked with a small smile.

"Indeed. Though we covered Literature during your first visit between your magic lessons...as well as Chemistry for today, we need to branch off into other subjects." the wizard was with another nod of his head.

"I suppose so...though do I really need to be learning all these things?" Sora asked with a shrug at the start as she tilted her head to the side in question.

"Why of course~!" Merlin exclaimed with a grin on his elder features; "You need to have brains as well as brawn in order to become the best of the best."

"Knowledge, wisdom...now there's the real power. Even if you have the biggest muscles, you'll never grow to your full potential." he continued as he brought a finger up as if to further his point.

"Learning is the best way to plan for the future, and you must have a good education to do so." the elder man finished with a smirk.

Sora blinked a few times at his words before looking up in thought and nodding her head. "You definitely have a point there. I guess it would only help me to keep learning all that I can." she said as she gained her own smirk.

"That's the spirit!" Merlin said happily before he soon looked to the baby leopard as she let out a meow.

"Oh...and perhaps while you're away, I could teach her a few things as well?" he asked silently, him stroking his beard briefly.

"I guess so." Sora muttered silently before she soon sweat dropped and smiled sheepishly.

"Actually...I was also hoping you could help me pick out a name for her. The best I could think of was; 'Spots, the Super Awesome Fluffy Kitty'." she continued with an even heavier sweat drop.

Merlin just stared at her for a moment before chuckling and nodding his head lightly; "Of course." he began as he looked at the kitten with a raised brow.

"Hmm...well since leopards are native to the central and southern areas of Africa, I believe a native name for her would be fitting." the old wizard said silently as he began to stroke his beard once more.

"I think 'Zola' would be a very fitting name. It means 'To love', which...considering how you told me she interacted with you after meeting, it's quite fitting indeed." he finished, to which he smirked once more to Sora.

Whom blinked a few times as she looked at the kitten just before she let out a soft meow, this making the brown-haired teen smile softly. "Alright then...Zola it is." she said with a nod of her head.

Zola soon meowed once more and even began to let out a silent noise that sounded as if she was purring. "Ah...she is letting out a low growl in order to simulate purring to show her happiness." Merlin said with a wider smirk on his features as Sora gave a nod in understanding.

"I knew big cats couldn't purr...but it's cute all the same." the teen said silently with a small grin, to which she slowly stood up and handed Zola to Merlin.

"Well...I better head out, I'm sure they're almost ready." the brown-haired girl began as she stretched her arms over her head briefly.

"I'll be back soon Zola, I promise." Sora continued, to which she walked over and pet the top of the kitten's head.

After a few moments of this, the leopard soon seemed to slowly fall asleep. This leading for the teen to quietly make her way to the door after giving a wave to the old wizard. "Later~!" she whispered out before rushing out of the house.

Despite Sora hearing a few brief meows from Zola, she continued on as she knew that the kitten was in good hands. However, this lead for Merlin to quickly conjure some milk for her to drink inside a bottle. Of which the kitten immediately began drinking from as she laid in his lap just like a human baby. "Well...I suppose this shouldn't be too difficult, right?" he muttered silently to himself.

All the while, Sora let out a heavy breath as she exited the cavern and came back into the Third District. "I really hope she'll be okay." she muttered as she glanced back to the cavern while the door was closing.

'I know we only really spent one day together, but I can't help but worry about her already.' the teen continued in her mind as she sighed once more.

"Maybe I could stay with her a bit longer." she muttered before turning back to the closed door.

Yet she was stopped from reopening it as Goofy's voice was heard from behind her; "Hey Sora!" he called out with a wave.

"Leon is just about finished putting that navigation gummy we found in the ship!" the anthropomorphic dog continued, to which he and Donald came up to her at the door.

"So how did it go with Merlin?" the duck questioned with a tilt of his head.

"Did he agree to take care of the baby leopard for ya?" Goofy asked as he blinked his eyes briefly.

"Y-Yeah...he said he would do it." Sora responded as she kept glancing to the door as if expecting to hear meowing from the other side.

Though when nothing was heard, the teen soon cleared her throat and started heading toward the First District. "A-Anyway...lets get ready to go." she said quickly, to which she started speed walking toward the large doors.

However, before she even made it halfway, a series of Heartless appeared before her. This making her blink briefly and bring her hand out in order to summon her Keyblade. But she never got the chance as a figure suddenly jumped down from the second level and defeated each of the four Heartless with a single slash of their weapon.

"There you are, what's goin' on?" Riku asked with a small smirk on his features.

"Riku..." Sora whispered out as she blinked her eyes many times while walking up to her friend.

She then began to poke him a few times from many angles, all the while, the silver-haired teen just raised a brow in question. "Okay...you're definitely real." the brown-haired said with a sigh and nod of her head.

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" Riku asked, him tilting his head slightly to the side, to which Sora just waved a hand in response.

"Nothing...it's just been a weird day for me." she answered as a small grin curled her lips.

"Same here, but I'm glad I finally found you...it took forever." the boy said with a brief chuckle and flip of his hair as his bangs drifted over his vision.

Sora nodded once more to him as she continued to grin at her friend, though this soon wavered slightly as she recalled the Cheshire Cat's words. Yet as she opened her mouth to speak, nothing ever came out. This silence caused the silver-haired teen to tilt his head in question and raise a brow as he expected her to say something. However, the brown-haired girl just closed her mouth, shook her head and began to grin once more.

"Well...so long as we're together now, right?" she asked quickly, her ending her words with a thumbs up.

"Yeah...though, where is Kairi?" Riku questioned, to which he briefly looked around as if anticipating said girl's presence.

"I'm not sure...I've been looking for you and her this whole time." Sora responded with a sigh, though she soon shrugged her shoulders after a moment.

"But I'm sure that she's out there somewhere, we just need to keep looking." she continued as she and Riku shared a smirk and nod with each other.

"Yeah...and who knows, she may even be looking for us too." the silver-haired boy added, to which he glanced around the area once more.

"We're finally free Sora, once we're all together again...we'll be able to have our adventure, just like we always planned." he said with a grin spreading on his features.

"Yeah...lets search for Kairi together." Sora said as her own grin widened and she gestured between herself and her friend.

"Hey! Aren't you forgetting about us?!" Donald exclaimed after jumping up and down to try and gain the pair's attention.

"Oh...right, sorry about that." the brown-haired girl began, her clearing her throat soon after.

"This is Donald...and that's Goofy, they've been helping me look for you and Kairi." she continued with a gesture to each of the two.

Though she soon ended up sweat dropping heavily and looking to the side; "Well...mostly anyway." she added silently.

"Hey!" Donald called out as he placed his featured hands to his sides.

Sora just smiled to him sheepishly before looking back to Riku and clearing her throat; "Apparently I'm some sort of 'Key' with the power to wield a weapon known as a 'Keyblade'." she said silently, to which she shrugged briefly and summoned her Keyblade into her hand.

This caused Riku to blink a few times in response as he looked at this weapon for a moment; "Hmm...looks kinda dorky." he muttered with his own shrug.

The teen girl huffed to him and crossed her arms; "Oh yeah? And what about you? What do you have to fight with?" she all but demanded as she gained a small pout on her features.

"Me? Oh...just this." Riku said as he held out his hand and summoned a strange weapon that looked like a red and black bat wing.

It also held a blue eye in the hilt that had a slit pupil and appeared completely stationary. Yet after bringing this weapon forth, Sora blinked a few times and groaned silently in response. "Oh come on...why do you get the really cool stuff?" she muttered silently with another huff.

Riku chuckled to this and shrugged his shoulders to her; "Who knows...guess I'm just the cool one of our group." he said as he flipped his hair for no other reason but to tease his friend.

Whom growled silently as she and Riku dismissed their weapons in unison, to which Sora soon let out a sigh and grinned lightly. "So...shall we head out? I assume you have a way to travel around?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

"Of course." was all Riku said, to which the two started to walk away.

Yet this soon lead to Donald letting out a screech to get their attention; "Wait a minute! We're on a mission!"

Sora turned to him with blinking eyes before she soon smiled sheepishly; "Oh yeah...do you think I could put that on hold real quick? It shouldn't take long for Riku and I to find Kairi when we're together." she started as she gestured from herself to her friend beside her.

"Once we do, I'll dedicate all my time afterward to save the worlds." Sora continued, to which she gave a quick glance and smirk to Riku.

"Then we can go on our adventure as planned...without interruptions." she finished with a thumbs up, which made the silver-haired teen smirk and nod.

"Gawrsh...I don't know Sora, the worlds you need to save might not be around much longer with the Heartless running loose." Goofy added quickly, him bringing up a finger as if to further his point.

Though the brown-haired teen glanced down briefly, Riku soon placed a hand on her shoulder and smirked once more. "Hey...don't worry about it. You go save those worlds."

"But..." Sora began, but was stopped as the boy waved a hand to her.

"You can still look for her in your own way...and I'll do it in mine. Two search parties are better than one, right?" Riku finished with another smirk and raised brow.

The brown-haired girl was silent for a moment, yet she soon nodded in response and smirked back to her friend. "Alright...I guess that works." she started silently.

"But make sure that if either of us find her, we have to come here right away so we can all meet up, deal?" Sora continued as she soon smiled lightly and brought a fist out toward him.

Riku chuckled briefly as he simply nodded and lifted his own fist out to gently bump with hers. "Deal."

* * *

Well...there ya have it. ^^ The leopard's name is Zola and will be taken care of by Merlin, some of the time that is. ;D Anyway, Happy Halloween everyone~! Unless of course you're reading this after Halloween, in which case...Happy belated Halloween? Then again...if you read this around Thanksgiving then, Happy Thanksgiving~! Though you could also be reading it around Christmas, so...Merry Christmas~! Although-...ehem...actually, I think I should stop myself before going through all the holidays. So I'll just say, have a nice day...whatever day it is. ^^ Until next time~!


	14. Olympus Coliseum part I

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 14: Olympus Coliseum part 1

Sora whistled silently as she walked alongside Donald and Goofy across a wide open area. Of which was covered in sand and surrounded by tall, tan colored walls. While the front gate had two, large gladiator-shaped statues on either side, the swords they held in their hands crossed high in the air.

Yet rather than looking impressed by all this, the brown-haired teen just kept her gaze mostly on the sky with a small smile. Her hands being behind her head as she walked along with the two, both of whom shared a brief gaze before Donald spoke up with a slightly raised brow. "Looks like you're in a good mood."

"Hmm?" Sora hummed out as she turned her head slightly to look at the duck; "What do you mean?"

"Well...ever since you and Riku went your separate ways, you seem to have become a bit more cheerful." Goofy commented with a small smirk on his features.

Sora blinked many times to his words before she shrugged her shoulders; "Well...I just got confirmation that one of my friends is okay, so I of course I'd be in a good mood." she said, her bring her hands down, yet waved one of them to the two in the process.

"I suppose, but we really should focus on the world at hand." Donald said as he gestures to the area around them.

"Huh?" the girl asked briefly before she looked thoroughly at her surroundings.

Upon doing so however, she gasped and began to grin widely in response; "Whoa~!" she all but sang out as it was clear she was just now realizing that they were in yet another world.

Though Donald sighed to her, Goofy simply chuckled and even placed a hand over his mouth in the meantime. However, all of them quickly turned around quickly as they heard a voice saying; "Would you look at that…some new blood for the old goat."

After they looked at the person who spoke, each of their eyes blinked many times at their appearance. This was a tall, blue-skinned man with black and grey robes, along with blue-colored flames for his hair. There was also a continuous black smoke that was produced from the bottom of his robes. "Hey there, name's Hades, Lord of the dead. Hi, how ya doin'?" he continued as he came up to Sora and brought his hand out.

The girl raised a brow to him briefly before she brought her hand out and shook his in response; "Hey Hades, my name's Sora." she said silently as she wasn't sure if she should trust him or not.

"So…I'm guessing you're here to compete in the games, right?" Hades asked, to which he then placed his hand in the middle of his back after he and the girl separated from their handshake.

"What 'games' are you talking about?" Sora questioned back as she tilted her head to the side.

"Oops, looks like I might have spoiled it a bit for you." the blue-skinned man began once more with a light chuckle and shrug.

Hades then gesturing toward the main entrance and sidestepped away from the three as to let them head toward the large double-doors; "If you wanna find out, you'll have to go talk to the one in charge."

But as they each headed toward this entryway, Hades placed a hand on Sora's shoulder quickly to make her stop. "Oh…and before I forget, you might need this." he whispered before a long, thin piece of stone appeared in his hand.

This flat rock had an engraving that said the word 'Pass' on the very top. "Ah, so we need passes to enter the games?" Sora asked rhetorically with a brief nod of her head.

"You got it." Hades began as he handed her the pass and began walking away; "Knock 'em dead, I'll be pullin' for ya shorty." he finished before vanishing in a large puff of black smoke.

Sora blinked briefly to this before tilting her head to the side brief; 'Hmm…he seemed like he might be someone pretty powerful. Especially being the 'Lord of the Dead'...though, I wonder if he'd be willing to teach me some things if I asked.' she thought quickly before rushing to the doors and going through them along with Donald and Goofy.

Upon going through, they ended up in a rather small room that held multiple trophies on the left and right walls. All the while, a large square stone was sitting against the right wall, which looked as if it weighed at least thirty times more than all three of them combined. Though there was an archway that lead further into the large building on the far end of the room, their attention was grabbed by a figure just to the side of it.

This person appeared to be a short, heavy-weight satyr with red-colored fur and tan skin. "Hey, good timing." he began with a gruff voice, him not even turning to look at the three.

"Move that block over there for me, would ya? I've gotta get this place ready for the games." he continued as he looked over a plaque that held what appeared to be the rules of the games.

Sora blinked a few times to him before looking to the large stone cube with a tap of her chin. "Hmm…" she hummed out silently as Donald and Goofy immediately walked over to it to try and move the block.

'It's way too heavy to move under normal circumstances, so I have to figure out how to slide it across the floor with as little friction as possible.' Sora thought silently as the two anthropomorphic animals tried and failed to move the large stone.

"What could create such little friction?" she muttered silently to herself, to which the pair glanced to her briefly before going over to the satyr.

"That thing is way too heavy!" Donald exclaimed as if accusing the red-furred creature of giving the block its weight.

"What?! Too heavy? Since when have you been such a-?" the satyr began, but cut himself short as he finally turned around to see who was in the room.

"Oh…wrong guy. What are all of you doin' here?" he continued with a raised brow as he placed his hands on his sides.

"We're here to compete in the games." Sora muttered, yet she kept her gaze on the large stone with a finger and thumb on her chin.

"Ha! You and the rest of the world kid." the satyr stated with a smirk on his features.

"Heroes from all around the word are gathering right here in the Coliseum to battle it out with monsters and even each other to see who is really the best. But I'm afraid it's reserved only for heroes." he continued as he walked from one end of the room to the other before back again.

"You've got heroes standing right in front of you." Donald exclaimed with a frown, him crossing his arms in the process.

"That's right…Sora here is a real hero chosen by the Keyblade." Goofy added as he gestured over to Sora.

Whom appeared to still be in deep thought about how to move the block, though she eventually gained a small smirk on her features as if figuring it out. Yet the satyr just laughed lightly at the dog's comment; "Hero?! That runt?" he said between his laughing.

"If you can't even move this." the satyr continued as he walked over to the block, to which Sora just blinked and tilted her head to the side.

"You can't call yourself…" he said while attempting to push the block from multiple angles; "…a hero!" he finished in a strained voice.

Though after failing to even budge the stone, he collapsed with a sigh and brief cough; "Okay…so it takes more than brawn." he said with a heavier sigh.

Sora raised a brow to him briefly before smirking lightly and nodding her head; "How right you are." she said silently as she walked over to the large block, to which the satyr stepped away to watch.

The brown-haired girl soon summoned her Keyblade and paced the tip of it on the floor, which created a thick layer of ice over the floor. It even going under the large stone, which caused it to be lifted up slightly. This making each of the other three blink a few times in response; "Ice, huh? Not bad." the satyr muttered with a nod of his head.

Yet what surprised everyone was the fact that immediately following this blizzard spell, a brief surge of fire spread over the ice. After doing this, Sora walked over to the side of the block pushed hard against it with all her might. This causing it to slowly slide across the floor and stop once it hit the wall opposite of the girl.

"Impressive." the satyr said with a nod as he began stroking his beard.

"But how'd ya do that? It was still really heavy." Goofy questioned with blinking eyes and a tilt of his head to the side.

"The ice I formed made a path that wouldn't create as much friction while trying to move it. But I also forced it upward so that it had a small ramp to travel down. This would not only allow it to build momentum, but also make it easier to actually be moved in the first place." Sora began with a wink and small grin on her features.

"But then why did you use the fire?" Donald asked with a raised brow in question.

"Because it's the thin layer of water that is on the ice that truly reduces the friction. So using the fire to melt a very thin layer of the ice and turn it into water, it allowed the block to just slide across the floor after I got it moving." the brown-haired teen finished with a wider grin, to which she tapped her Keyblade against the floor to allow the ice to shatter to small shards.

"Hmm…I gotta say kid, you're pretty good. Usin' your head to solve the problem was really smart and impressive. I think you really might make a great hero." the satyr said with another nod of his head.

"With a bit of training and guidance of course." he continued with a small smirk curling his lips, to which he soon gestured toward himself with a thumb; "Oh…and the name's Phil, by the way."

"Nice to meet you Phil, I'm Sora…and that's Donald and Goofy." the teen introduced as she pointed from herself, to the other two near of her.

"Well…since you three ain't gonna be able to join the games, we could fit in a bit of training before they start." Phil said as he stroked his goat-like beard.

"Actually…" Sora started as she brought up the pass in her other hand; "…I have a pass for the games right here." she finished with a small grin.

"Huh? Where did you get that?" Phil questioned in a bit of shock as he took the pass once it was offered to him.

"I got it on my way in here." the girl answered, yet she noticeably dodging the actual question.

"Although, I'd still like to do a bit of training if that's okay with you. There are lots of things still I wanna try…practice…and perfect." she continued with a small grin on her features.

Phil raised a brow to her for a moment before he tilted his head up in thought while stroking his beard; "Hmm, I guess we could do that. Just to see if you're really ready for the games." he said with a nod of his head in response.

"Alright! Let's get started!" Sora exclaimed with a wide grin and fist-pump to the air.

* * *

There ya have it, the start of the games. I do apologize for having this update a day late, but I'm sure no one really minds it all that much...so long as I continue it, right? ;) I hope all of you enjoyed, if you did...let me know. If you didn't...let me know. ;D Until next time everyone~! ^^


	15. Olympus Coliseum part II

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 15: Olympus Coliseum part 2

"And~…begin!" Phil called out as he waved his hand through the air, to which Sora rushed forward.

The brown-haired girl ran toward a couple of the large barrels that had been set up in a strategic manner around the large arena. Though, while most of them had multiple barrels stacked on top of each other, Sora began by only hitting the ones on the bottom. This causing those on top to go flying off and smashing other stacks of barrels, or to just break apart on the ground once they hit.

After just a few seconds, all of the barrels were smashed to pieces and left a grinning Sora in the middle of the arena; "So...how was that?" she asked with a brief tilt of her head.

"Not bad...but it coulda been faster." Phil responded, despite having been looking at the teen's display with an impressed expression just moments ago.

"Alright...so what's next?" Sora questioned as she grinned once more and placed her Keyblade over her shoulder.

"Well if you're hungry to do something more challenging, I'll fix ya up a course that'll really make ya sweat." the satyr stated with a small smirk, to which he went over to a set of doors on the far end of the arena.

"Just wait inside...I'll tell you when I'm done!" he called out as he soon disappeared through the doors.

This lead for Sora to give a light shrug in response and head over toward the opening on the opposite end of the arena. Of which brought her back to the room that she had first met Phil. Though along the way, Donald and Goofy joined her as they had been watching from the many rows of seats on either side of the arena.

"So...what did you guys think?" the brown-haired teen asked with a small smirk on her features.

"You were pretty amazin', you knocked all those barrels down without usin' your magic...just like how Phil told ya to do it." Goofy commented with a smile and nod of his head.

"Ya...it was pretty cool." Donald added as they all walked into the room and just stood around waiting for Phil to return.

However, after almost a full half hour, said satyr came walking back in. Although, each of the three just blinked many times to him as he appeared completely out of breath. "Alright...I got...it all...set up for ya." he heaved out between each gasp of air.

"Um...you could have asked for some help." Sora said with a light sweat drop as she slowly followed Phil back outside.

Once she they emerged once more, all but Phil began to look around with blinking eyes. There were not only barrels in almost every part of the arena, but there were tall pillars with barrels atop of them. A few other barrels were seen balancing on thin, yet very long planks of wood.

"Whoa~!" Sora exclaimed with blinking eyes and small smirk.

"Alright…this time I'm gonna really make ya think." Phil began with a grin as he gestured to the entire set up he made.

"You have thirty seconds…go!" he finished with a light grin.

Immediately following his words, Sora blinked many times in response as she quickly looked around. 'This might be a bit tough.' she thought briefly, to which she ran forward as quickly as possible to reach the first group of barrels.

The brown-haired girl immediately began slashing and hitting every last one of the barrels around her. Though her movements seemed a bit sloppy, she managed to hit many of them into other barrels that caused both objects to be broken apart. Yet at the exact moment Phil called out; 'Time!' Sora had hit the last barrel into the empty stands.

But after finishing this time, the teen was completely out of breath and sighed heavily. "I…did...it." she heaved out as she looked to Phil with a small, yet almost tired smirk.

Said satyr just blinked many times in response to this as his expression alone told each of the three that he didn't expect her to succeed on the first try. Though he soon smirked widely and nodded his head to Sora's words. "Ya sure did kid, ya sure did." he said silently.

"I think you're definitely ready for the games." he continued to himself with a wider smirk curling his lips.

This made Sora grin before following Phil into the waiting area along with Donald and Goofy. Yet the red-furred satyr soon left the room in order to get everything ready. All the while, each of the three had simply waited there for the next hour, to which the games had noticeably begun. It being signaled by the large crowd gathering in the stands during this long delay. Though, after the satyr returned, he began to explain the rules to the trio. Each of whom just nodded in response while he spoke, despite not hearing everything over the roar of the excited crowd.

"So…got any questions?" Phil questioned once he had finished, him looked between Sora, Donald and Goofy.

All of whom just shook their heads, as each of their eyes shined in enthusiasm to compete. "Alright then…knock 'em dead~!" the satyr continued as he gestured them to the center of the stadium.

Sora nodded her head quickly with a small grin, to which she and her two companions walked to this area. Though they were soon met by a group of Heartless and came out of a dark opening on the opposite side of the arena.

"Heartless?" Donald exclaimed with blinking eyes.

"Gawrsh, I didn't expect the monsters we'd face to be Heartless." Goofy added as he looked at each of the shadowed beings coming toward them.

The brown-haired girl just waved a hand to them both and smirked lightly, to which she summoned her Keyblade in the process. "No use complaining about it now...let's do this!" she called out before she used a Fira spell on the first few opponents that tried to attack her.

This lead for Donald to bring his magic staff into the air, then hit another couple Heartless with a thunder spell. Immediately following his actions, Goofy spun his shield around before throwing it at the remaining few Heartless. The shield itself bouncing off each of their heads until it finished off the last one.

Once they claimed victory, the crowd cheered even louder in response with all three of their names being called out. The trio waved to the people with smiles, to which they then headed off to the side as the next round was starting. This time it was a gathering of Heartless against a blond-haired man, whom carried a very large sword.

His hair itself was very spiky in appearance, even more so than Sora's own. He had blue eyes that narrowed heavily on his opponents as he readied his weapon out in front of him. Of which was wrapped in some sort of white bandaging all the way from the hilt, to the tip. His clothes consisted of a blue shirt and pants, as well as a pair of boots and fingerless gloves that shared the same brown color.

Though the glove on his left hand held metal claws on it, of which were gold in color. There were also various, grey-colored armor across his body, which included his upper legs, left shoulder and left wrist. He even wore a flowing red cape that also wrapped around his neck and covered the lower half of his face. Lastly, a large demonic-like wing protruded from his back that seemed to remain extended even while he walked.

As each of the three and the crowd watched his fight, they couldn't help but feel impressed from his skill. His movements were fluid and nearly flawless in nearly every single attack. There were even very few openings that any of them could spot while he disposed of all of his opponents within moments.

"This guy is good." Sora muttered silently as Donald and Goofy simply nodded in agreement to her.

"Looks like you guys are gonna have some major competition." Phil commented, him having just nodded and stroked his beard the whole he watched the fight.

"Looks that way." Sora whispered to herself, to which her eyes slightly narrowed on the blond-haired man as he walked out of the center of the arena.

Though he and the teen shared a gaze, it was clear that they both knew what the finals would be. Her team and him, going head-to-head; 'I can't wait.' Sora thought briefly as the man just continue on his way, breaking the gaze in the meantime.

Despite most of the remaining matches consisted of Sora and her friends defeating wave after wave of Heartless, the brown-haired girl's mind was distracted the whole time. Her focus being mainly on each fight the blue-eyed man competed in, as if to try and get a grasp of his techniques. Yet it wasn't long until he and Sora were against one another in the finals, just as they both predicted.

"What do ya mean ya wanna take him alone?" Goofy asked in shock as he blinked many times to the teen.

"I want to know if I have what it takes to beat him on my own." Sora responded with a brief nod of her head and a small smirk.

"But we stand a better chance against him if we all fight together." Donald added, him raising a feathered finger up as if to further his point.

"I know that...but it's kind of a personal thing." the brown-haired girl began as she tilted her head down for a moment.

"I need to know if I've come far enough to rescue Riku and Kairi on my own. Even though I've just started, I have to be good enough to battle against anything by my self in case I don't have anyone else beside me." she finished silently, to which the pair just looked to her with blinking eyes.

Both of them not quite understanding why she would need to save Riku when they just saw him a few hours ago. Though after a moment, the duck just let out a heavy sigh and shrugged his shoulders; "Well...if it's that important to you, I guess we'll sit this one out."

Goofy just smirked lightly in agreement before he nodded his head; "We'll be cheerin' for ya the whole time!" he exclaimed as his smirk widened into a smile.

Sora smiled back to the pair with her own nod; "Thanks guys." she said before heading into the center of the arena, where the blond-haired man was waiting.

"I'll be facing you one-on-one." she stated as she come up to her opponent with a small grin.

"Are you sure about this?" he questioned in silent voice that nearly sounded like a whisper.

"Absolutely!" Sora claimed with a wider grin, to which she summoned her Keyblade in her hand.

"But before we do this..." she continued, her slightly tilting her head to the side; "...what's your name?"

Though the blond looked at her silently for a few moments, he slowly smirked lightly and brought his own weapon up. "Cloud Strife." was all he said as he narrowed his eyes on the girl.

"Well Cloud, I'm Sora. Now let's do this!" the girl called out before the two quickly rushed toward one another and swung their blades together.

* * *

Sorry for this one being so short, but don't worry...the next one will make up for it since it'll be a heck of a lot longer than this one. ;) I really didn't have a lot of time this week to write this chapter and had to cut things down in order to make it for the deadline. I could have delayed, but considering how busy this week has been...it wouldn't have been a very good idea. 0.o But anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter to some degree and look forward to the next chapter next week. Which I promise will be much better than this and the last one since they were both basically just leading up to the next and last part to this world. ;) Thanks for reading, until next time. ^^


	16. Olympus Coliseum part III

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 16: Olympus Coliseum part 3

The instant Sora's and Cloud's weapons clashed, a brief shockwave shook the ground of the arena. This also knocked each of the people sitting in the stands onto their backs in an instant. Yet neither fighter paid them much mind as they swung their weapons at one another multiple more times. Every connection of their blades created similar shock-waves as the first, though they were noticeably weaker.

Immediately following their fifth collision, Cloud soon pushed Sora backward with raw strength and jumped high into the air. This led him to flip forward and swing his large sword down at the teen with great force and speed. But despite somersaulting out of the way of this strike, the blonde-haired man's blade produced five black swirls of energy. These quickly spreading outward and covered a large portion of the arena, yet they stopped just shy of the civilians in the stands.

However, the damage caused by these swirls of darkness was quite intense as the ground looked like it had been cut open a few feet deep. Upon giving this a glance, Sora's eyes narrowed and quickly turned back to Cloud as he readied his blade to attack once more.

'Even with such a powerful technique, he has so much control over it. This guy really is good.' she thought quickly, to which she gained a small smirk and began to glow a faint grey color.

"Let's find out which magic works best on him." Sora muttered silently, her then bringing her Keyblade up and blocked a sudden thrusting attack from Cloud.

But while she only used one hand, it was enough to prevent the blonde from going any further, which seemed to shock him slightly. Though this was short lived as he soon noticed the Reflega spell, which briefly shimmered around her.

"So...you know some pretty powerful magic, huh?" he questioned as they looked into each-others eyes.

Both of them having the same look; 'the thrill of fighting a strong opponent', which caused the two to share a quick smirk in response. Yet Sora soon took on a grin as when her Reflega spell disbursed, it created a small series of magical shock-waves that knocked the blonde back. Whom narrowed his eyes, though he was soon faced with the tip of the teen's Keyblade pointing at him.

"Firaga!" she called out quickly, to which a large burst of fire blasted toward Cloud.

Though he immediately slashed this magic in half with his blade, he soon had to jump over the Blizzaga spell that Sora shot toward his feet. Yet while he lingered briefly in the air, Cloud soon noticed that the teen soon used a Thundaga spell toward the spot that he had just been in. However, the moment this lightning spell suddenly freeze in mid strike, the blonde's eyes widened in realization. Cloud then seeing that the other magic spells the girl had cast were also paused in time.

"Seems you noticed...but it's too late now." Sora stated before she casted a Magnega spell right where Cloud had once stood.

This pulled the man with great force toward this spot in the same moment 'time' for the other spells seemed to restart. "Tch!" was all the blonde let out before he pointed his blade downward.

The moment the tip of Cloud's blade reached the ground, all of the magic spells that were coming toward him were instantly disbursed by a wave of darkness. Upon seeing this, Sora's eyes widened briefly as she quickly took a step back and took on a defensive pose.

'Man...he's even tougher than I thought. Looks like normal spells won't work...even when they're at such a high level.' she thought, to which her eyes narrowed slightly as she just watched Cloud pull his blade from the ground.

"Not bad kid...but you'll definitely have to do better than that." the blonde-haired man said, him readying his sword out in front of him.

"Yeah, looks that way." Sora said silently as a small smirk curled her lips; "And I know just the thing."

Immediately following her last words, her Keyblade and body began to glow a deep, yet bright red color. This sparked Cloud to narrow his eyes, and then bring his blade to the side as he prepared his own attack.

'Here it comes.' the teen thought quickly as her own eyes narrowed and a single finger unnoticed by Cloud downward.

"Mega Flare!" Sora called out at the same moment Cloud yelled; "Sonic Blade!"

In the moment the blonde's sword came rushing toward the teen, a huge burst of fire shot out from her Keyblade. Yet while, Cloud's blade sliced through it, the fire also created a blinding flash of light that caused him to close his eyes in response. Of which gave Sora the time she needed to side step out of the way, as well as cast a Graviga spell with the finger she pointed downward with.

Following this, the blonde-haired man's momentum was stopped as he floated slightly into the air. However, this left him completely defenseless as the teen girl jumped into the air behind him with her Keyblade pointing up. "Meteor Crash!" she yelled while her body was glowing a bright red color once more.

But just before she was about to finish her attack, an enormous black paw hit her from behind and sent her right into the nearest wall. The blow nearly knocking the girl out upon impact, to which she simply gasped and crumpled to the ground limply. Her then groaning silently in pain as she ground her teeth in order to try and keep herself from crying out too loudly. Sora was barely able to muster the strength to pick herself up off the ground as one of her ribs had nearly broken from hitting the wall.

All the while, the crowd in the stands immediately began to scream and rush out of the arena as fast as possible. Donald, Goofy and even Phil were all directing everyone outside in order to make sure they all got out safely. Though the teen noticed this, her main focus was on the large three-headed dog that was standing in the middle of the area.

It having, short black fur, pure red eyes for each head, as well as very large and sharp teeth. The brown-haired girl soon narrowed her eyes at this canine as she soon noticed Cloud unconscious under one of its paws. Sora quickly figuring out that the dog had attacked him immediately after her while he had been floating helplessly under her spell.

"Tch...this is why I don't like dogs." she muttered silently, yet bitterly before standing up completely and casting a Curaga spell on herself.

"I think it's time to teach you a lesson...little puppy." Sora continued as her eyes narrowed even further than before, to which she slowly walked toward the three-headed dog.

Of which looked to her and began to growl silently, to which the teen simply smirked. "Okay fine...you're a 'big puppy', but I'm still gonna teach you a lesson." she stated as her eyes briefly closed.

Yet the moment they opened, her body briefly took on a black aura while she said her next words. "A lesson of not to hurt my friends." she all but growled out before taking on a similar pose as Cloud had moments ago.

Though the dog brought its heads down to bite at her, she just smirked lightly and seemed to vanish in the instant she called out. "Sonic Blade!"

The moment she appeared on the other side of the dog, it let out a loud yelp and simply fell to the ground unconscious. "Huh...that technique really is good." she muttered out silently with a small smirk.

Sora then turned to Cloud quickly as he slowly stood up with a light groan and looked to her. "How did you do that? Not many people know that technique." he asked with briefly blinking eyes.

"Well…what can I say? I'm a fast learner." the teen said with a grin as she dismissed her Keyblade and placed her hands behind her head.

Cloud raised a brow to this for a moment, to which he slowly smirked in response and shrugged. "Well...whatever the case, it looks like you'd won this match. Good fight, Sora." he said as he brought a hand out to shake.

Sora blinked to him briefly before smiling widely and taking his hand into her own. Though in the moment their hands made contact, the blonde-haired man soon felt a strange sensation rushing through him. It feeling as if the darkness inside his very body was being pulled out and flowing into Sora.

This soon made him pull his hand away and look at the girl in a bit of shock, though she just looked at him with a confused tilt of her head. "What?" she asked before looking at her hand as if thinking there was something wrong with it.

"Did I get some of that dog's slobber on my hand?" Sora continued with a fearful expression as she quickly started to wipe her hand off on her jacket.

But immediately following this, she groaned out and looked at her clothes; "Ah! Now I've got it on my jacket~!" she whined before rushing around to find something to wipe her hand and jacket off with.

However, Cloud kept his gaze on his hand as if wondering if he had just imagined the sensation. Though he soon looked to the teen once more with a shake of his head; "No...'that' wasn't it. I'm just in a bit of hurry, so I better go." he said, of which made Sora quickly stop and turn toward him with blinking eyes.

"Aw, really? But I really wanted to hang out and become friends." the brown-haired girl said as she walked over to him once more and gave a light pout.

"Hmph...I'll have to pass on 'hanging out' for now." Cloud said before moving some of his bangs to the side while heading toward the exit.

"Alright..." Sora said with a silent, yet somewhat sad sigh.

"Besides..." the blonde suddenly began as he paused in his step, though didn't turn back to look at the teen.

"...we're already friends. You said it yourself." he finished before continuing on his way.

Sora blinked many times to this before smiling widely in response as she placed her hands in her pockets. "See you around, Cloud." she whispered silently.

"Kid! You're okay!" Phil called out as he rushed over to the teen with an expression of relief on his features.

"Of course~!" Sora sang out with a wide grin and thumbs up toward him.

"Well I gotta say, I never expected ya to beat Cerberus…without any help. Ya really are something else kid." Phil said as he came up in front of her, Donald and Goofy being right behind him.

"What did you expect? I have trained with one of the greatest wizards of all time as well as you." the teen girl claimed proudly.

"Is that so? Well, it looks like we've got ya on the right track. If he's got ya perfecting that magic of yours, then we'll focus on building up that physical strength of yours." the satyr said as he crossed his arms and smirked lightly.

"I'd like that…then I'll become a 'True Hero' in no time." Sora responded with a wide grin spreading on her features.

Phil smirked a bit wider to this as he soon stroked his beard; "Hmm…possibly. Though to give ya a little more incentive, I think I'll give ya the title of 'Intermediate Hero' for now." he said with a short nod of his head.

Sora, Donald and Goofy each blinked a few times to this as they tilted their heads to the side; "What's that?" the duck had questioned with a slightly raised brow.

"It's a middle class of Hero that shows that you've got a greater chance of becoming a 'True Hero' than the rest. I made it after I saw that one kid in action...he even gave Herc a good run back in the day." Phil explained as he continued to stroke his beard for a few more seconds.

"Do we get that rank too?" Goofy asked as he blinked his eyes once more.

"Hmm…I think you two rookies will be named 'Junior Heroes'. Not quite at her level, but still on your way." the satyr stated with a gesture toward Sora, to which Donald frowned in response.

"What do you mean? Why aren't any of us real heroes?" the duck demanded with a huff.

"Hmph, none of you rookies know what it takes to be a 'True Hero'." was all Phil said as he crossed his arms once more.

"Hmm…what does it take?" Sora questioned with blinking eyes and a slight tilt of her head.

"Well…" a voice spoke up from behind Sora, whom quickly turned to see who it was.

This person revealed to be an extremely muscular man, with broad shoulders and a comparatively thin waist. He was wearing orange-brown armor that ended in a metal kilt. His armor did not however, extend to his arms or to most of his legs. He also had on a brown belt around his waist, which held a gold emblem of a lightning bolt. The man's sandals were knee-high, had cross-shaped straps and were brown in color. There were two wristbands, as well as a reddish-brown headband tied around his forehead. Of which pushed his rust-colored hair back, save for one bang that fell over it. Along with his sky blue eyes, he also had a short, deep blue cape.

"…you'll just have to figure that out for yourself." he continued with a small smirk on his features.

"Just like the way I did." the man finished as he stepped up beside Phil.

Whom grinned to this man widely and patted the side of his leg due to their height difference. "Herc!" the satyr exclaimed with a tone of relief.

"Hey…the name's Hercules." the orange-haired man introduced as he waved lightly to each of the three.

"Hercules?" Donald echoed back with a raised brow in question.

"That's right…this guy is the real deal, a 'True Hero'." Phil stated with a wide smile, to which he leaned against Hercules' leg now.

"I saw you beating Cerberus from afar. I was about to rush in to help out, but you handled him just fine on your own." Hercules began as he looked to Sora.

"I'm impressed." he continued, him giving a small smirk toward her.

"Th-Thanks." was all Sora could say as she just looked at the man before her with 'star-lit' eyes.

It being the first time she had met an actual 'hero', which just made her all the more excited. Though Hercules just smirked lightly to this and brought a hand out to her; "I look forward to training more with you…" he said in an obvious hint toward her to introduce herself.

Despite catching on to this, the teen couldn't manage any words at first while she shook his hand. "I-I'm Sora." she said quickly after she realized that she had just been looking at him with a wide grin.

"Well Sora…make sure to come by for more tournaments in the future." Hercules said with a smirk on his face and nod of his head.

"Right." was the brown-haired girl's response as the man soon headed off on his way with a wave.

"See ya then!" he called out as Phil soon followed after him.

Once they were out of sight, Sora grinned widely and bounced on her toes; "I met a real hero...atop of everything." she began with an even wider grin.

"Today has been awesome!" she exclaimed as she fist-pumped the air.

Goofy just chuckled to this as he then tilted his head up; "We better be moving on. There was no sign of Kairi or the King, so we best head to the next world." he said with a light shrug.

After his words, the other two nodded in response and called the Gummi ship to transport them back up. Though while they waited, Sora soon blinked a few times as if remembering something. 'Oh right…I forgot to find that 'Hades' guy after the tournament. Oh well, I guess I'll just look for him during my next visit here.' she thought briefly with a shrug just before each of them were transported back to the ship.

* * *

And there you have it, that is the Olympus Coliseum...for now. ;) I hope the clash between Sora and Cloud was entertaining enough that it was worth the wait. ^^' Let me know what all of you thought, I'll be happy to read each review since it'll help me to make this story more entertaining for each of you. :) Until next time everyone~! ^^


	17. Dark Swamp part I

**Inverted Sky: Kingdom Hearts I**

Chapter 17: Dark Swamp part I

"Penny?! Penny, answer me! Penny!" a voice roared out through the large swamp-like area in the middle of the night.

This being immediately followed by an orange-haired woman kicking open the outside doors of an abandoned ferry. The front of which was resting on the shoreline, while the back of it was partially submerged under the water. All the while, the woman herself was wearing a long rain jacket and rubber boots that both shared the same black color scheme. "Snoops! Get down here!" she called out toward the upper floor of the boat.

"W-W-W-What's up Medusa? What's going on?" an overweight man questioned timidly as he rushed to the edge of the second floor's railing.

Him having a rather deep widows-peek with his dark-orange, curly hair. He also had a pair of large rounded glasses and bucked teeth that couldn't be completely covered by his lips. The man was wearing a yellow suit with a white undershirt, black tie and rounded brown shoes.

"That little brat has escaped again!" she called out before going over to a pair of crocodiles that were on the deck of the ferry.

She then proceeded to unlock the chains around their necks and place a hand on each of their heads. "Nero...Brutus, bring her back boys." she all but growled out as she pointed out to the swamp.

Upon her words, both animals slid themselves over the side and into the water below, to which they started to swim through the swamp in search for this 'Penny'. As they did this, the red-haired woman brought her hands out to either side and created a surge of darkness through her body. "And the rest of you..." Medusa began once more as half a dozen Heartless appeared around her.

"...bring me my jet ski." she finished as the Heartless quickly went over to he water and pulled a large and rather clunky-looking jet ski closer to the edge of the boat.

This lead for her to go over to it quickly, pushing the Heartless out of the way as she did. Once she got onto the machine's seat, she began trying to start it up with the keys from her coat. However, when it didn't do so on the first few attempts, she growled silently in response. "Why won't it start?" she muttered before taking in a deep breath.

"Snoops! What's wrong with this thing?!" the woman demanded loudly, despite said man having rushed toward her and received the loudness of her voice head on.

"W-W-Well I know don't know...it was working good yesterday." he said while fixing his glasses on his face after having tripped from Medusa's yelling.

"Oh, shut up!" the woman shouted as she had gotten the machine to start midway through his words, causing a large puff of black smoke to be produced.

"Send up flares! Light up the swamp so I can find her." Medusa continued with a low growl at the end of her words.

Immediately following her words, Snoops rushed off to do as he was told, though not before giving a fearful gaze toward the Heartless. All the while, the woman drove off on the jet ski at great speed across the water. It only being a few moments afterward that the first of the fireworks started to burst high in the air, of which lit up the area brightly. Though, in between some of these, Medusa saw a brief flash of light in the corner of her vision. This lead for her to quickly turn toward it and shine one of the lights on the jet ski toward this brief occurrence.

But as she searched the shore, all she saw was the forest around the swamp. The woman then drove further upriver as she merely passed the light off as merely one of the fireworks that had a delayed ignition. However, Sora slowly peeked her head out from behind one of the trees, to which she sighed heavily.

"Geez...that jet ski scared the heck out of me." she muttered silently with a sweat drop.

Her words were soon followed by a silent meow from Zola in her hood, to which the brown-haired girl nodded in agreement. Yet she soon shifted her gaze back to the leopard and huffed lightly; "Don't think that you're off the hook." she claimed, her pointing a finger toward Zola in a firm manner.

"I know you snuck into my hood when I came to visit after the tournament. And while I'm letting you get away with it this time, I'll be checking my hood before I leave from now on." Sora continued as she kept her firm tone.

However, her heart all but melted when the baby leopard just rubbed her finger with the side of her face. "I know I'll miss you too…but you're still just a child and I don't want you getting hurt." the teen said with a quick nod as to further her words, which received a meow in response.

"Thank you." Sora muttered before she soon blinked to Goofy as he spoke up from one of the trees next to her.

"Can you actually understand what she's sayin'?" he asked, to which he tilted his head slightly to the brown-haired teen.

"Not in a 'language' sense…it's more like I can tell what she feels through her heart." Sora answered with a small smile before placing a hand over her own heart.

"I'm not even sure why...I think it's just because he have a strong bond." she whispered with a slightly wider smile in response to her own words.

The teen then looked from Goofy to Donald, whom was behind a tree on the opposite side of the girl. "Well, we should probably start with our search for the King and Kairi." he said while briefly peeking out to look over the swamp.

The jet ski-riding woman seeming to have moved on further down the river, to which the three slowly moved to the shoreline. "Right...but where to we start?" Sora uttered, as Donald and Goofy stood beside her.

The latter of whom glanced around the dark and foggy swam with a thoughtful gaze a he spoke. "It might be a bit too hard to find anything at night like this, but I suppose we could check the shoreline as best we can." he suggested, to which the other two turned to him before slowly nodding.

Though immediately following this agreement, one of the fireworks caught their attention as a squawk was heard soon after. As soon as they looked up at the sky, they saw an albatross falling out of the air at great speed. "Uh-oh." each of the three said in unison with Zola's meow.

This lead for Sora to quickly rush through the forest in order to try and catch the bird before it hit the ground. As she went however, Sora noticed a brief movement of something in the corner of her eye. Yet she was in too big of a hurry to look, her just assuming it was an animal traveling through the swamp. Once she reached the area the bird's trajectory was leading, she quickly caught it in her arms.

However, she had to jump over the shallows of the swamp to do so, causing her to slip on some mud under the water and fall into it. This making her let out a light huff in response and just sit in the shallow water with a light pout. "I hate getting my clothes wet." she muttered silently to herself while standing up.

But her attention was soon turned to the sky as a voice came from above calling out; "Look out below!"

Immediately following this, a pair of mice suddenly fell right into Sora's hands after the albatross leapt out of her arms. "Wow...just how many more animals are going to be falling out of the sky?" the teen questioned silently with blinking eyes.

"Penny? Are you Penny?" one of the mice questioned as they looked up to her with blinking eyes.

"Me? No...I'm Sora." said girl introduced with a small grin and thumb pointing to herself.

"Oh. Well it's nice to meet you Sora, thank you for catching us." the other mouse said, it being clear from their voice that this one was female, while the other was male.

But after his words, Zola suddenly popped her head out from over Sora's shoulder and looked to the two mice. Both of which quickly hid within the teen's jacket pockets, to which the teen chuckled lightly and patted the leopard's head. "Now now...they're not food." she said before opening her jacket slightly to look at the hiding mice.

"Don't worry about her...she's just young." the brown-haired girl reassured as she gave a small smile, which lead for the pair of mice to slowly come out of hiding.

"So, who is this 'Penny'? And why are you looking for someone way out here?" the brown-haired girl asked with a slight tilt of her head.

"My apologies, my name is Bianca, and this is my partner Bernard. We're mice from the Rescue Aid Society...and we flew here on Orville to save a little girl named Penny from her kidnappers." the female mouse explained, her accent seeming much more noticeable the more she spoke.

"Though...if you're here, does that mean you've been kidnapped as well?" Bernard questioned as he looked up at the teen with worry in his eyes.

"Not at all. Me and my friends came here looking for a few of our own friends. They weren't kidnapped or anything, they're just a bit...lost." Sora explained, though after she mentioned having 'friends', the pair of mice glanced up to the baby leopard.

This lead for the brown-haired teen to giggle in response before gesturing for Donald and Goofy to come over. Both of whom had followed the teen, but only now were visible through the gloomy forest."This is Donald, that's Goofy and this is Zola." she said with a gesture to each one as she spoke their names.

However, before any of them could greet one another, the jet ski came hurling by. But due to the tall grass around this part of the water, the woman riding the machine could not see the teen or her friends. Yet this didn't prevent a wave of water to drop a top of Sora as Medusa turned quickly away from the shore. Everyone but Sora herself staying dry as the teen's hood protected Zola, while the others stayed out of the 'line of fire'.

"Oh...she's gonna get it now." the teen growled out silently as she glanced to the side.

Though in doing so, her hard gaze soon turned to a bit of shock as she saw two very large crocodiles a few meters away. Them walking up to the shoreline with a young girl being visible in one of the reptile's jaws. It holding her up by the back of her blue overall skirt with enough height that her brown shoes weren't even close to the ground.

This girl had short blonde hair, which were fitted into small pigtails. Her fair skin making a contrast to her dark eyes, yet added to her white polo shirt. Of which was worn under her blue overall skirt, while her lavender stockings appeared slightly torn.

'I'm guessing 'that' is Penny.' Sora thought briefly as she looked from her friends to the little girl being carried away by the crocodiles.

This made her let out a breath, place the two mice into her pockets and take on a small grin. "Well...lets go save her."


	18. Dark Swamp part II

**Inverted Sky: Kingdom Hearts I**

Chapter 18: Dark Swamp part II

As Sora rushed together with Donald and Goofy, she occasionally glanced over to the side. Her able to hear the jet ski coming closer and closer, yet it would then get further away as if it was making laps around the swamp. Though before the three could reach the crocodiles holding Penny, the pair moved themselves into the water. Despite this however, they kept the girl's upper half dry while leaving the rest of her submerged.

Just as the teen reached the edge of the water, she came to a stop and groaned lightly. "Ugh...I really don't wanna get wet again." she muttered silently to herself, to which she then moved across the swamp's shoreline to follow the large reptiles.

"You're already wet you know!" Donald hissed out as to try and make sure that only the brown-haired teen could hear him.

"Oh whatever!" she huffed back, her continuously glancing over toward the crocodiles every few steps.

But after noticing that the crocodilians were moving toward a ferry just up ahead, Sora suddenly came to a stop. This made Donald run right into the back of Goofy as the anthropomorphic dog halted directly beside the teen. However, the impact made the pair fall forward together, yet Sora quickly caught them and pulled the two back to their feet. She then yanked them to the side and hid behind a tree, Medusa passing by on her jet ski seconds later.

"We'll wait it out." the teen whispered as her eyes narrowed on the sight of the crocodiles bringing Penny onto the boat.

"But why? They're right there." Goofy questioned while peaking out from around the tree Sora put him and Donald behind.

"Because, we need to be discrete, it's part of that 'world order' your were talking about after all." Sora answered, making the duck just huff in response.

"Yeah right, you just didn't want to get hit by another wave of water from the jet ski." Donald commented, to which the brown-haired girl turned to him and huffed.

"Can you blame me? I keep getting soaked in this place...so I don't feel like possibly picking a fight or such where I'm just gonna keep getting wet." Sora claimed as she looked from the two before to the ferry once more.

"Besides...I don't think that Penny is in any danger. Those crocodiles clearly knew how to handle her, therefore..." she started, yet left her words hanging so that the other two could make their own conclusions.

"...they've had to catch her before." Goofy finished while nodding his head slowly.

"Meaning she's not in any danger." Bernard spoke up as he and Bianca popped their heads out from Sora's pocket.

"At least not yet." the female mouse added in a concerned tone.

"So we can't just sit around waiting." Donald stated, him suddenly seeming rather passionate about saving the young girl.

"We won't." Sora said with a small smirk as she watched and listened to Medusa, her entering the ferry and immediately began yelling at Snoops.

"Now that they believe they've won in catching her, it'll be a piece of cake to get her out." the teen finished while the trio moved a bit closer to the boat.

"That's a good idea." Bianca uttered, her nodding slowly to this plan along with Bernard.

This earning a soft meow from Zola as she poked her head out from within the teen's hood. Sora glanced over to the leopard with a small smirk and quick shrug of her shoulders; "You can take a quick nap, I doubt anything exciting will be happening just yet." she said with a sigh.

Zola seemed to huff to this, yet she curled up into the teen's hood as the group waited till things became quiet across the swamp once more. However, during this wait, they had noticed a few Heartless around the ferry. Which made them on edge the whole time, especially as they snuck onto the boat itself to find Penny. Whom they saw on the ledge of the ferry's second floor, her gazing out at the night sky with an almost hopeless look in her eyes.

"Aw, don't make such a sad face...you'll make me start crying." Sora spoke up in a whisper as she came up beside the younger girl.

Penny herself blinked many times and even gasped in surprise to the sudden appearance of the trio. "W-Who are you?" she questioned to each of them while looking from one to the other.

"I'm Sora...this is Donald and Goofy." the teen responded, her gesturing to each of the two when saying their name.

"Oh...and these are Bernard and Bianca." she continued with a quick point to the mice in her pocket as they waved to the girl.

"We're from the Rescue Aid Society, and we're here to rescue you." the female mouse claimed, a small smile curling her features.

"R-Really? You mean...you got one of my letters?" Penny asked in surprise, to which she looked down to the teddy bear in her arms.

"You see teddy? I knew someone would come to save us!" she declared, yet tried her best to keep quiet in order to not wake anyone up.

"So how do we get out of here?" the young girl questioned with a tilt of her head to the side.

"Well-" Sora started, yet cut herself off as she grabbed Donald and Goofy by the wrists and tossed them over the railing.

However, she did so in a way to allow the pair to grab onto the ledge that lead down to the first floor. Immediately following this, a swarm of Heartless suddenly rose up from the floor and surrounded the two girls This made Penny gulp down in fright while Sora summoned her weapon. Donald and Goofy on the other hand were trying to pull themselves back up, yet were stopped by the brown-haired girl's foot getting in their way.

"You don't." Medusa stated to the side, her coming through the doors of the room they were outside of.

"You're not leaving this place, Penny. Not until I have that diamond." the woman all but growled out, her body gaining a brief aura of darkness.

The brown-haired teen narrowed her eyes further when seeing this, despite the darkness of night. "B-But I tried as hard as I could to get it last time." was the small girl's reply as her tone itself sounded quite fearful.

"Well then...you're just going to have to try harder tomorrow." the red-haired woman said, her gaze slowly turning toward Sora.

"Cause now that we've been discovered...that will be your last chance." Medusa finished while placing extra emphasis on her last two words.

This making it clear to Sora, Donald and Goofy that she likely had the intention of tossing Penny to the Heartless if she failed to get what she wanted. The teen ground her teeth together slightly as she was really starting to hate this woman. "Y-Yes Ma-am." Penny answered silently in a very timid voice.

"Good. Now you best get some sleep while I dispose of this-" but now it was Medusa's turn to be cut off as Sora brought her Keyblade out.

"Hold that thought for a second." the teen began as she glanced around to the Heartless with a raised brow, none of them moving to attack.

"You seem to have quite a bit of control over them..." she continued, her gaze shifting back to Medusa; "...far more than you should."

"So what is this diamond you're getting for her?" Sora asked curiously to Penny, to which said girl blinked a few times.

"Um...it's called; 'The Devil's Eye'. It's supposed to be super valuable since it was part of some lost pirate treasure." was her answer, yet not without nervously looking to Medusa.

Whom glared at Sora as if insulted that she interrupted her, as well as pretty much ignoring the red-haired woman entirely. "And these creatures...when did they start popping up?" the brown-haired teen questioned, her still not paying any attention to Medusa.

"Um...not too long after the first time I failed to find the diamond." Penny responded as she shifted herself almost behind Sora.

Meanwhile, Medusa growled silently, raised a hand up into the air and opened her mouth to order an attack. However, Sora just spoke up before she could, to which she unsummoned her Keyblade and simply smirked at the woman. "Good news...I've decided to help you look for the diamond. And once we have it..." the teen began as she turned to the red-haired woman.

"...you're free to take it. I have a feeling that there is something else near it that I'm looking for, so you can have the diamond...so long as I get what I'm after." she continued while coming a bit closer to Medusa.

Whom could only blink a few times at this sudden change of events, yet she slowly narrowed her eyes. "And why should I trust or believe you?" she demanded, her hand slowly returning to her side.

"You shouldn't, but you don't really have much to lose by doing so." was all Sora responded with, to which Medusa's eyes narrowed a bit further on the teen.

"Fine then...but if I feel you're deceiving me, I'll just leave you down in that hole." she claimed firmly, to which the Heartless seemed to disappear.

"Now get yourselves ready! We're heading out at first light!" the woman yelled as she moved out of the room, yet she could still be heard telling her crocodiles to make sure no one left the ferry.

The brown-haired girl let out a breath before quickly helping Donald and Goofy back onto the deck. "Sorry about that, I wanted you guys to stay out of sight so you can sneak away. While Penny and I look for the diamond, you two will search for the lead Heartless and draw it towards us." she teen explained quickly in a silent voice.

"I have a feeling that the reason why Medusa has so much control over the Heartless is because the leader isn't around this area. So once we bring it back, we can just finish everything off all at once." Sora continued with a wink and small grin.

"We'll lock the Keyhole, beat the Heartless and rescue Penny at the same time." the girl explained, a wider grin curling her lips as she winked once more.

"That...actually makes sense." the duck uttered out, his tone making him sound almost surprised.

The teen huffed to this with a pout; "You make it sound like I don't have good ideas." she all but whined out, to which Penny began to chuckle and eventually laugh.

This making the others smile softly since they knew this must have been the first time she had gotten to laugh in quite some time. 'I'll get you out of this place Penny...I promise.' Sora thought to herself with a great deal of conviction.


	19. Dark Swamp part III

**Inverted Sky: Kingdom Hearts I**

Chapter 19: Dark Swamp part III

Sora let out a long whine as she followed after Penny, whom walked toward a tall rock formation with a dead tree sticking out at the end. Yet what made the teen make this noise, was the fact that this was just a few meters the ocean's shore. 'I'm gonna get wet again, aren't I?' she thought to herself as a hole could be seen under the tree.

Said dead plant had a bucket hanging from a rope as it was clear, 'this' was how they were getting Penny in and out. But the size of the hole also made it even more obvious that neither Medusa or Snoops would be able to fit through it. 'No wonder they needed a child to do this for them.' Sora thought quickly as she glanced to the two adults following close behind her.

The pair having multiple Heartless around them while they walked, but judging by Snoops' nervous expression, they weren't there for him. Meanwhile, Medusa just seemed utterly smug as she felt like she was in complete control and would finally get what she wanted. This making the brown-haired teen roll her eyes and look to Penny as she stopped at the hole's entrance.

'Man...I really hope Donald and Goofy manage to find the head Heartless soon. I wanna watch that wretched woman finally realize that she's not really the boss around here.' she continued in her mind, to which she then joined Penny and placed a hand to her shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'll be with you the whole way." Sora claimed confidently after noticing the nervous and somewhat scared expression to the younger girl's features.

Yet after her words, Snoops came over to them and placed the bucket near of Penny's feet. He then tied a lit lantern to the lower part of the rope and pointed to the girls with a finger; "Alright you little brats, now you are going to get down in that hole and you are going to dig until you find me diamond. And no sassing me!" he ordered, yet neither of the girls seemed to be threatened by this as they just gazed at him silently.

Though, Penny did briefly scrunch her face slightly as if to show that she wasn't afraid of him or his threats. But as Medusa came up behind the younger girl, Penny noticeably tensed up for a split second. The red-haired woman smiled to this as she glanced between the teens; "Now my dears...I do hope that you'll listen to him and find me the diamond. Or who knows what might happen to the rope after you've gone down." she stated rather darkly, which made Penny gulp down and just nod her head in response.

All the while, Sora saw another surge of dark energy rush across Medusa's body. 'I knew her greed was the thing fueling her darkness, but it seems as though she also has a bit of a sadistic streak in her as well.' the brown-haired girl thought as Penny stepped into the bucket.

Snoops immediately starting to lower the young teen through the hole before pulling it back up for Sora to take her turn. But before she could place her feet into it, Medusa grabbed her arm in a rough manner and narrowed her eyes heavily on the teen. "You're not coming back up either if I don't get what I want, so you better hope you're not after my diamond...or you'll never see the light of day." she growled out before releasing Sora to let Snoops lower her into the hole.

Along the way however, her eyes narrowed further and further the darker her surrounding became. "She's in for a nasty surprise when I finally find the Keyhole." she muttered silently as her voice barely echoed off the walls around her.

"Then we can just get away from here without having to worry about her anymore." the teen continued while her vision slowly adjusted to the darkness.

"So...we don't even need to find the diamond, right?" Penny asked with blinking eyes as she held up the lantern Snoops tied on the rope previously.

"No...but I think we should get it anyway." Sora said with a wink and grin, to which Bernard and Bianca popped their heads out from her pocket.

"What do you mean? We'll need it to get out of here." the former of the paired asked while blinking his eyes in confusion.

"Not quite...I can blast our way out of here when the time comes." Sora claimed proudly as she summoned her Keyblade.

"I just wanna find it so that when Penny is rescued, she'll get to collect the reward money." she finished in a happy and proud tone, to which she winked to the mice and even Penny herself.

All of whom blinked many times in response, yet Sora simply held out her weapon as it suddenly gained a small glow at the tip. She took on a small grinned when seeing this and began moving further into the cave. Without even being able to respond, Penny simply followed after her as they moved together. However, the pair immediately stopped when a loud draining-like noise was heard directly ahead of them.

"What was that?" Bianca questioned while slowly climbing out of Sora's pocket and onto her shoulder, Bernard quickly joining her.

"It's where the water comes in...it's really scary." the younger girl responded as she took a quick step away from this direction.

Though Sora seemed frozen in place for a moment, she just cleared her throat and slowly moved closer toward the sound. Which allowed the light from her Keyblade to illuminate a large hole in the middle of the narrow path. The teen whistled silently as she looked down the hole, yet quickly moved back at the sound of water rushing by.

"The water comes in through bursts I'm guessing?" she asked with a glance over to Penny, whom just nodded her head.

"Hmm...well the keyhole doesn't seem to be down there." Sora muttered as she looked to her Keyblade still glowing only slightly.

'Thank goodness.' the brown-haired girl added in her mind with a sigh of relief.

"Though I'm willing to bet it's definitely on the other side of this hole." she muttered silently with her eyes narrowing further into the darkness.

"And I'm betting the diamond is over here as well." the older teen added as if to hint Penny to come over to join her near the hole's edge.

"W-Well...I guess if I was a pirate, it would be the perfect place to hide such a priceless diamond." Bernard said with a brief shrug.

Immediately following his words, Penny gulped down quickly before going over to stand somewhat behind Sora. "Try shining the light on the other side." Bianca suggested as she gestured to the darkness in front of them.

Upon doing this, a few more skeletons of deceased pirates were visible, despite the rather dim light. But one in particular had its skull light up brightly and produce a great deal of light in the dark cave. "Whoa!" many of them exclaimed in surprise.

"I'd say we just found the Devil's eye." Sora said with a small smirk, though she soon looked down to her Keyblade as the tip glowed even brighter.

"And the keyhole too." she added before glancing to the hole in front of them.

Though within moments of her gaze shifting to this abyss, a surge of water came rushing up through it. Sora instantly let out a very girlish yelp while holding her Keyblade out toward the water as it washed toward her. However, the moment her Keyblade touched this wave, it froze over completely before it could even reach any of them. The brown-haired teen let out a heavy breath to this while smiling softly; "That was close." she muttered, to which she looked to the others as they were looking at her in a bit of shock.

"W-What? I just don't like getting wet, that's all." Sora claimed quickly, her being glad that it was so dark since a deep blush was forming on her cheeks.

Sora then slashed at the frozen water that was blocking their path, which left a nice cover to the hole and allowed her to walk across. "There we go, now there is no reason to be afraid, right?" the older girl said as she offered a hand to Penny.

Whom blinked many times to her and nodded in response, to which she took Sora's hand as the girl helped her across the ice. Once they were both on the other side, the two walked over to the skeleton they saw light up and noticed the large diamond within the skull. "Alright...now that we've found it, how do we get it out?" Bernard asked as he and Bianca climbed down Sora's shoulder and onto the ground near of the skull.

"Well...we could either try cracking the skull to make a hole wide enough to get it through. Or...pry the mouth open till we can just pull it out." Sora suggested, to which she glanced behind her as she could feel vibrations coming from the water push harder and harder against the ice.

'It probably won't last much longer. But I'll shatter the roof of this place to dust before I let myself get wet again!' she declared in her mind as she soon turned to Penny as she had grabbed a nearby pirate sword and began prying the skull's mouth open.

'Alright...option number two it is.' she continued before glancing around as if to try and find the keyhole she knew was nearby.

Though the more Penny lifted the mouth of the skull wider, Sora could see a small shimmer behind the diamond. Despite being covered up by Bernard and Bianca as they began trying to push the large jewel out, she knew that the keyhole was on the other side of the diamond.

'I wonder if the Heartless placed it there in order try and keep people from finding it.' Sora thought with a tap of her chin before waving a hand and smirking in amusement. 'Not likely, it's probably just a coincidence.'

She then watched the trio successfully get the diamond out, to which Penny quickly scooped it and the two mice up off the ground and into her arms. "Are you sure that I should be taking this though?" the girl whispered silently, which made Sora pause in her actions to lock the keyhole.

"Why not? You're the one who found it. You spent all this time trying to get it, so why shouldn't you claim the reward?" the teen questioned with a soft smile, her going up to the younger girl and placing a hand to her shoulder.

" But...I..." Penny began, yet Sora quickly shook her head and continued to smile.

"You're a very strong and kind girl, and if you ask me...you're the only one deserving to have it." the older girl claimed, to which the other teen blinked a few times and slowly nodded her head.

Sora smiled a bit wider to this, to which she then turned to the side just as the ice could be heard cracking heavily. The pressure of the water trying to get in starting to get stronger as the tide began coming in. This lead for Sora to narrow her eyes and point her Keyblade out to cast another ice spell. However, she paused when even over the rumbling of the water, a loud roar was heard outside of the case.

The brown-haired teen took on a small grin as she turned to Penny and placed an arm around her. "Stay close." was all she said before holding her Keyblade up and blasting the roof with her dark power.

This attack causing not only the rock and mud to go flying outward, but the water that was crashing against the former two. Sora briefly turned to the side as she saw a huge Heartless attacking Donald, Goofy, Snoops and even Medusa. The last of whom was screaming at the creature to listen to her like the rest, yet it did nothing to prevent it from swinging its large claws at her.

The Heartless itself was shaped similarly to a bear and was as massive as the trees within the swamp. Its fur was mostly black with red streaks on the head, which was shaped like the Heartless symbol. While its claws were about as long as Sora herself, their arms appeared a bit thinner than expected as they also had what appeared to be broken chains around them.

Upon seeing this, Sora swung her Keyblade to the side as the Keyhole was now completely visible. Once her weapon was aligned, a beam of light shot from it and allowed the Keyhole to be locked before fading away. This taking just enough time for the bear Heartless to notice her and the younger teen, to which Sora then scooped Penny up y the waist as she jumped to the side. Her action allowing the creature's swinging paw to hit the ground where they had previously been as Sora rushed toward the ferry.

"Take the jet ski and get out of here, I'll meet you at the shore of the ocean once I lead this thing away." the brown-haired teen explained quickly while the loud footsteps of the bear Heartless could be heard and felt coming after them.

Penny didn't even bother to question her words as things had gone from weird to utterly bizarre and scary within a split second. Once Sora was close enough to the ferry, she gently tossed the younger girl on board and turned around swiftly to face the on coming creature. It already being just five meters away by this point, only giving the teen enough time to bring up a Reflect spell up. However, due to its sheer size and weight, the Heartless shattered through the barrier and nearly hit a rolling teen.

Sora dodging out of the way just in time to avoid the bear's jaws, to which she glances back briefly in order to make sure that the creature was still following her. But this was not the case as its eyes were soling focused on Penny while she was trying to start the jet ski with the two mice. This machine once again having difficulties with actually starting, likely due to just the sheer age of it. Though, as the Heartless moved toward then, Sora jumped up and slashed the bear across the face with a powerful backhanded blow.

Her strike knocking the bear to the side as it's yellow eyes then seemed to turn to the older teen. Whom was actively moving in order to gain its attention; "Come on you over grown badger! Come get me!" she called out while rushing to the side, yet made sure to take only half strides in case the Heartless wasn't going to target her.

But she almost immediately began running at full speed the moment she heard the bear's footsteps almost right behind her. Of which they remained while Sora rushed out to a more open area to fight, yet she almost came to a stop when Donald and Goofy came right toward her through the brush. However, they let out a brief scream of fright while instantly turning around to join their friend in fleeing.

"So where did you find it?!" Sora called out from over the Heartless' roars.

"In a cave!" Donald responded as he had to move his legs twice as fast due to his short height.

"It was chained up to a big glowing pillar that disappeared after we broke the chains!" Goofy continued while they ran as fast as possible.

Though this made Sora think who or what could have done such a thing, she didn't have long to ponder it as they had to all jump in unison when the bear attempted to bite their legs. "So what's the plan?!" the duck called out as he glanced back to make sure he didn't loose any tail feathers.

"Bears are top heavy! So we attack its hind legs first and then its head!" Sora called out while jumping over a fallen tree.

"But where are we going?" Goofy questioned quickly as he looked over his shoulder to see how close the Heartless was.

It remaining the same distance as it was clear that they were already matching its top speed. "Somewhere open!" was all Sora yelled before they all scream out along with the bear's loud roar.

Yet, as if on cue, the trio saw an open plain up ahead. However, Sora noticed something strange about it and turned to her friends on either side. "When I say so, duck!" she ordered quickly.

"What?!" the other two questioned, but they didn't get answered as Sora stopped just before the edge of the forest.

"Duck!" the teen yelled, to which her friends just stopped and did as she said.

Sora then held out her Keyblade and created a Reflera spell that arched over the three. Which tripped the bear as it couldn't stop in time and ended up falling directly into the large body of water that appeared to be a plain. It in fact being wetland grass that was covering the whole area of water, to which the Heartless sunk right in and became tangled with the grass. "Forget its legs! We'll attack its head with everything we got!" Sora called out while the trio immediately readied themselves to fight.

The teen and Donald quickly placed their weapons against Goofy's shield, to which they began pouring a great deal of magic power into it. This causing the circular piece of metal to glow a bright white; "Don't hold anything back...this thing can likely take a wallop." Sora said quickly as she and Donald stepped back soon after and allowed Goofy to throw his shield.

It spinning through the air with great speed as it left a trail of magic in its path, to which it hit the Heartless right in the middle of its forehead. However, the resulting blast caused the trio to fall backward and the bear to let out a monstrous roar. The area quickly being engulfed in magic energy as it heaved a great deal of water out in all directions. Which lead for Sora to yelp and jump up into a tree directly beside her, to which she took on a slow grin.

'I've actually managed to stay dry all day today.' she though to herself while hopping back to the ground.

Her watching the Heartless slowly seem to disappear like the rest, however, no crystallized heart was seen. This made each of them blink a few times in confusion, yet they didn't get to think for too long as the sound of Penny screaming was heard. The three then immediately began running toward the ferry as fast as they could, which made them miss a much smaller bear-shaped Heartless crawl out of the water on the opposite side.

Where of which a hooded figure was waiting; "Not quite there...but it'll do for now." they whispered before disappearing along with the bear.

Meanwhile, Sora arrived with her friends and saw Medusa standing atop her two crocodiles in the water with Penny stopped on the jet ski in front of them. Though, said machine was no longer running as it seemed to have died once the girl halted her momentum. "Give me my diamond." the woman growled out as she was now completely covered in a dark aura.

This slowly seeming to spread to the pair of reptiles as their eyes began to glow red; "The Devil's Eye belongs to me!" Medusa screamed, to which the darkness became like a wild fire around her and the crocodiles.

Each of the three now only being visible through their shadowy forms, of which now seemed to actually be merging together. Once they had, the darkness instantly cleared and revealed a very tall creature with a very lanky appearance. Its head was mostly covered by a crocodile-like helmet while having a similarly themed tail waving behind it. Along with this, the green armor it had made it clear that it was likely a very defensive being, as well as making a contrast to her black skin.

"Give..me..my..DIAMOND!" the creature screamed out in a rather demonic voice that echoed out through the swamp.

All the while, Sora narrowed her eyes as she barely had any magic power left after using so much against the bear Heartless. Yet she gave a glance to her friends as they just nodded their heads confidently, to which she smirked and did the same. They then rushed out toward the water, Sora using what little magic she did have to create a bridge of ice to reach the newly transforms woman. At which point they began their assault of slashing, clubbing and charging attacks.

But while the creature staggered from these strikes, it remained standing and gazed down at the three as if they were flies. Though, the moment Penny restarted the jet ski, the transformed woman immediately swung one of its clawed hands to the three. Each of whom were knocked right back to the shore they came from, to which the creature then moved through the water to get Penny before she could escape. Said girl letting out another scream of terror while even Bernard and Bianca cowered on the young teen's shoulder.

"NO!" Sora yelled out as she was engulfed in darkness before vanishing from her spot and appearing on the complete opposite side of the water twenty meters away.

Meanwhile, the large creature seemed frozen in her swing to attack Penny, to which Sora slowly turned around. Her watching as the being slowly began to fade away like a Heartless, yet in the last few seconds, the creature's body seemed to turn silver in color before vanishing. "What was that?" Sora muttered to herself as the darkness around her slowly disappeared.

Penny quickly drove the jet ski toward the teen, to which said girl glanced over to see Snoops rowing away in what looked like a small row boat. This made her giggle softly before looking to the younger teen; "Are you alright, Sora?" she questioned quickly, to which the other girl simply nodded her head in response.

"Of course, it'll take more that a giant bear or crocodile woman to take me down." Sora claimed confidently with a wink and grin.

"Well...now that everything is over, will we be parting ways?" Penny asked in an obvious sad and disappointed voice.

"For now...yes. But don't worry, we'll see each other again." the brown-haired teen said while her grin widened slightly.

"We're friends...so our hearts will find a way to come together again." Sora continued with a quick gesture between both of their hearts.

This made Penny smile in response and nod before she got the jet ski ready to move again; "Thank you so much for everything Sora. See soon!" she said with a wider smile.

"We appreciate your help." Bianca spoke up from Penny's shoulder as Bernard nodded his head in agreement.

"We hope to see you again soon as well." the male mouse said as he waved to the teen along with the other two, to which Sora returned their gesture.

After this exchange, Penny drove off on the jet ski and eventually disappeared down the river. This lead for brown-haired teen to then head back across the water to rejoin her friends, her using ice magic to do so. However, she ran out in the last few steps and had to jump, yet she slipped and fell back into a small pool of water behind her.

"Ugh...I just had to jinx it." she muttered to herself while standing back up.

"Well, mission accomplished I guess." Goofy muttered out as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah." Sora whispered silently, to which she glanced around the area one last time to be sure.

"Well...the Keyhole is sealed, the Heartless are gone, but it doesn't look like the King or Kairi are here. So we should probably move on." Donald suggested as he gestured to the sky, to which the other two slowly nodded in agreement as they were soon teleported back to their ship.


	20. 100 Acre Wood

**Important message at the bottom, make sure to read it. ;)**

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 20: 100 Acre Wood

Sora let out a breath as she walked inside of Merlin's house with Zola sleeping in her arms. Though upon entering, the old wizard was looking around quickly in search for something. Or more specifically, someone, as he called out for Zola over and over. Him looking under the table, the chairs and even each pile of books.

Yet his search soon came to an end as the brown-haired teen gained his attention by clearing her throat. This lead for him to turn his head to her before over to Zola laying in the teen's arms, to which he let out a sigh in relief. "Thank goodness. I feared she might have gone into the cave below this place and got herself lost." he heaved out with a long breath, making it clear he had just come from said area.

"Nope…she just snuck into my hood before I left the last time." Sora began with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Probably while I took a nap during your lecture about Algebra." She continued silently while tapping her chin lightly in thought.

"What was that?" Merlin asked with a raised brow and suspicious gaze.

"N-Nothing…just…you know, thinking how excited I am to learn more." Sora added quickly as she cleared her throat once more.

"Hmm, well if that's the case…then I'll begin with a two hour lesson about Geography." the elder wizard claimed with a small grin.

Sora immediately sweat dropped heavily in response to this, to which she just sighed and nodded her head in response. "Yay." She muttered silently with a somewhat sarcastic tone.

Though moments after her comment, Merlin suddenly snapped his fingers and turned to the side; "Oh! I almost forgot." he began as he went over to a stand that held a single book upon it.

"I wanted you to see this." he continued while gesturing Sora to come over.

As she did, she placed the sleeping Zola in the guest chair before going up beside Merlin. Upon looking to this book, she raised brow in question as it had a brownish-orange boarder and blank white cover. Though there was also a golden lock on the right side that connected to a strap extended from the back cover. This made her look to Merlin with a raised brow in question as to what importance this book held.

"This book is a very treasured one that has the remarkable power of unlocking a person's hidden power and potential." the old wizard explained, him gaining a small smirk on his bearded features.

The brown-haired teen blinked to him many times in response to this, to which she then looked back to the book itself. Upon doing so, Merlin opened the cover and began flipping through the pages. During of which, Sora noticed that some of them had a strange blue magic binding them to the book. This caused her to raise a brow once more as she gave a quick glance over to the older man; "What happened to those pages?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

"The Heartless had torn a few of them out during one of my travels. And while I got each of the missing pages back with the help of King Mickey, my magic was only able to restore so much." Merlin explained as he tilted his head down and closed the book.

"What do you mean?" Sora questioned as she quickly gathered that something was wrong with the book, her choosing to ask about King Mickey later.

"Well…after the pages had been torn out, the magic within it had all but vanished. So while I brought the pages back, its magic still won't work." he explained, to which the teen looked down with a somewhat solemn expression.

"Of course…" Merlin began yet again as he gained a smile; "…where there is a will, there is a way." he continued as he then picked the book up and offered it to Sora.

Said teen blinked a few times to this as she slowly took the book back into her hands; "So…what do I do?" she asked silently, her looking from the elder wizard to the book.

"Open the book…and use your imagination to bring the story back together." was all Merlin responded with as the moment Sora opened the book, the pages glowed brightly and almost blindingly.

Though the moment this light died down, it revealed Sora to have disappeared, to which the old man just caught the book before it could fall to the floor. "I have faith in you my dear." he muttered silently with a wider smile.

As Sora slowly opened her eyes, she blinked many times to find herself in a wide open, forest-like area. The teen soon raised a brow in question, yet as she turned to her right side, she saw a small golden-colored bear sitting on a large log. Whom of which was wearing a simple red shirt that did little to cover their rather large belly.

'Whoa...okay, I guess I'm inside the book now.' the brown-haired girl thought quickly as she slowly headed toward the bear.

"Think, think. Think, think." the animal muttered out silently as it was clear from their voice that he was a male.

As Sora approached him, she walked to the side of the log and looked at him with a tilt of her head; "Hey...what are you thinking about?" she asked with blinking eyes.

"Oh...I was just thinking about how to say good bye to Pooh." he said silently while continuing to keep his gaze on the ground during his thoughts.

"'Pooh'?" she echoed with a raised brow.

"Yes?" the bear asked back as he finally looked up and turned to the teen.

"Wait...you're 'Pooh'?" Sora questioned as she blinked once more in slight confusion.

"Yes, I'm Winnie the Pooh...'Pooh' for short." he began with a quick wave of greeting as the the brown-haired girl jumped up and sat down next to him on the log.

"Who are you?" Pooh continued, him blinking eyes and tilting his head slightly to the side.

"I'm Sora, it's nice to meet you Pooh." she responded, to which she gave a small smile to him.

The bear smiled back to her with a nod, though he soon gained a somewhat solemn expression; "So...have you come to say goodbye to Pooh too?"

"Huh? Why would I say 'goodbye' to someone I've only just met?" Sora questioned back as she raised her brow to him once more.

"Well...because everyone else has already gone away." Pooh began as he gestured to the wide open area around them that seemed almost too empty.

"We all used to live here in the Hundred Acre Wood. We'd take walks together or play games...and I'd have honey everyday." he continued, though slowly looked down to his large stomach as it growled silently.

"Just a small smackeral would taste very good right about now." the bear said as he rubbed his belly, to which the growling subsided.

"But now...everyone is gone. All of my friends, and even my favorite honey tree." Pooh muttered as he slid off of the log and tilted his head down.

"So who knows? Maybe I'll end up going away too. But how do I say 'goodbye' to myself?" he asked silently, him rubbing his head lightly while closing his eyes in thought.

After a few moments of this, Sora tilted her head to the side and just looked at Pooh silently. "Hmm...well..." she began as she jumped off the log and kneeled down beside the bear.

"...what if I help you find your friends and that honey tree of yours?" the teen finished with a small smile of comfort toward the golden bear.

"Would you really do that for me?" Pooh asked with blinking eyes.

Sora simply grinned in response, stood up straight and gave a thumbs-up; "Of course~! It's what friends do." she claimed as she offered her hand to him.

This lead for Pooh to smile back to her before placing his small paw into the teen's hand, to which they headed off on their way through the large clearing. Along their way, they came across one of the bear's friends, a small baby pig. Whom was in fact near of Pooh's favorite honey tree, which held a great many bees nests on its branches. The pig's name was 'Piglet', and he was an extremely shy individual. Him having ran away from the teen out of fear upon their initial meeting, yet soon joined their search after a bit of talking from both Sora and Pooh.

Despite being held up from the bear eating a great amount of honey from the tree, the three made their way to another tree. Yet this one had been made into a house, which had a door, windows and even a mailbox in front of it. Though the strange part was that there was a vegetable garden out in the front of it with a small stream running along its top. Upon meeting with a large yellow-furred hare named; 'Rabbit', Sora helped him to manage his garden a bit better. There being a few bugs and such that were ruining his vegetables, so the teen created a netting to keep them safe. For which Rabbit thanked her many times over, him even giving her some of his best tasting carrots and even some honey for Pooh.

However, not long after this, an anthropomorphism tiger with black-strips and orange fur came bouncing along on his tail to meet up with them. His name was Tigger and he had noticed her and Pooh in the distance, which made him wonder what they were up to. Though he and Sora became almost instant friends after a bouncing race, they decided to split up in order to find the rest of their friends.

After Sora decided to follow the stream, she found a rather depressive donkey floating in the water named; Eeyore. Immediately after helping him out, she dried him off and even hugged him a great many times after hearing how sad he sounded. Her all but carrying him to another tree made house, where they met up with Tigger and the others. Them having found a pair of kangaroos, that had been also searching for Pooh and his other friends.

One of them was a very kind and soft spoke mother named; 'Kanga', while her playful son Roo hopped around her happily. Although they knew that one other friend was missing, said bird immediately came flying down to them. His name being 'Owl' from the namesake of his species, and had brown-colored feathers. Him having watched them almost the entire time, though stayed out of sight to watch Sora interact with everyone.

Though after they had finally gathered together, each of them made their way to a tall hill to watch the sun go down in celebration. It having taken nearly the whole day for Sora to help Pooh to find all of his friends, to which they sat down beside one another on the hill. Though Eeyore was still being hugged tightly by the teen, Tigger was standing behind her. Him having his arms crossed over her head and rested his head on them while they looked up at the sky together.

"I'm so glad we're all together again." Piglet spoke up in a happy tone while they watched the moon rise into the sky.

"Thank you for all your help Sora." Rabbit added with a small smile on his features; "If it wasn't for you, we may never have found one another again."

"Indeed...in fact, that reminds me of an old story my Uncle Albert once told me." Owl began with a clearing of his throat.

"You really helped us out Sora, even if you didn't have to." Eeyore muttered out, which just made the girl hug him even tighter.

"Thanks a ton! Plus all that bouncin' we did was a lot of fun~!" Tigger spoke up with a grin and a couple bounces around Sora before going back to where he was before.

"I'll definitely have to join in next time!" Roo said as he smiled widely, to which he hopped around his mother once more.

"But only after you've cleaned your room." she commented, her chuckling lightly with a smile as her son nodded in response.

After each of their words, Sora looked around to each of them with a soft smile on her features. 'I went out to help someone find their friends, but I think I just found some friends of my own as well.' she thought silently to herself before glancing over to Pooh.

Whom of which was tapping the side of his head gently while muttering; "Think, think." to himself.

"What are you thinking about now, Pooh?" she questioned with a tilt of her head.

"Oh...I was just thinking about what will happen if you go away. Would we all suddenly separate and have to find one another again?" he answered as he blinked his eyes toward the teen.

Sora had just looked at him with a raised brow before smiling softly and waving a hand in response. "Of course not...you'll always be together. Even if one of you gets lost, so long as you remain friends, you'll always come back to one another. Just like how I'll always be together with you guys since we're friends." she stated, of which caused each of them to smile and nod in response.

Though after this, she finally released Eeyore and walked up to the edge of the hill while stretching her limbs. "Huh? Where are you going?" Piglet asked as he came up beside the girl and looked up at her.

"I have to go and find my friends as well." Sora answered as she kneeled down to him and patted his head gently.

"But don't worry, I'll come by to visit." she continued with a glance to everyone as they each nodded once more to her.

This lead for the brown-haired girl to smile lightly before jumping down from the hill and giving a wave to each of her new friends. All of whom returned this gesture as the teen disappeared in series of sparkles of magic. Immediately following this, Sora appeared back in Merlin's home, where of which she saw the old wizard with tea already set at the table for her.

"Welcome back...it seems that you succeeded in not only repairing the book, but also gaining the effects of its magic." Merlin commented with a smile on his features.

Sora blinked a few times to him, though slowly looked herself over as she could indeed feel a very strong power within her just waiting to come out. Yet she simply looked to the elder man and raised a brow in question; "But...how do I use this new power?" she asked silently.

"You'll have to find that out for yourself." Merlin began as he sipped some of his tea; "Now then...on to your studies." he finished with a wider smile than before.

The brown-haired girl just letting out a heavy sigh and nodded her head in response, to which she walked over to her seat and sat down. Zola having woken up, moved to the arm rest and jumping into Sora's lap once she took her seat. Though after the kitten laid down in her lap, Sora looked to Merlin silently as he began his lesson. However, she wasn't able to fully focus on it as she tilted her head up thoughtfully.

'It's strange...this power feels like a much greater enhancement I felt during the time I fought that three headed dog. It even has a similar sensation I had felt when I asked my Heartless to get me out of that cave.' she mused in her mind silently as she slowly narrowed her eyes.

'But both times... it felt like I was using...' Sora continued, yet never finished as she finally decided to pay attention to her teacher's lecture.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading, this is all that will be done for the 100 Acre Wood world in Kingdom Hearts I, so it'll be back to the other worlds after this. ;) And speaking of which, I'll be taking a two week break from here, so there will not be any updates until the 9th of next month. Holidays and all that. However, I have decided to continue writing even over the break, so I'll be having two updates on the Saturday that I come back. ^^ I hope that'll make up for my break. So anyway, thank all of you for reading and I hope you continue to enjoy. Until next time~!**


	21. Agrabah part I

Welcome back everyone~! I hope you've all had a Happy Holiday and great New Year~! ^^ So to kick off the first chapter of this year, I'll be updating not only today, but tomorrow as well. ;) But please make sure to review for both, I want to know what all of you think of them not just as a whole, but separately as well. ^^ Anyway, on to the chapter.

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 21: Agrabah part 1

Sora blinked a great many times at the sight of the sand-colored walls of the buildings around her. Each of them standing quite tall, yet not as tall as the perimeter wall around the entire area. Though as Sora continued to walk through the sandy streets of this new, desert-like world, she took on a small smirk.

"I wonder what sort of things will be happening around here." she muttered silently as Donald and Goofy came up beside her.

"Well...lets just hope this place holds some clues to where the King might be." the duck muttered with a brief huff.

"Yeah...and Kairi too." Goofy added as he nodded his head in agreement to his friend's words.

"Plus, I'm hoping to run into Riku soon too." Sora said silently as she smirked a bit wider.

"I know Leon said he hadn't seen him yet, but I really wanna tell him about all the cool stuff we've been doing." the teen continued, yet she quickly began to look around with a raised brow in question.

"Hmm...does this place seem a bit...empty to you guys?" she questioned, her glancing over to the two with a raised brow.

Immediately following her words, both Donald and Goofy nodded their heads lightly before looking from side to side. "Now that you mention it..." the duck began, but never finished as a large group of Heartless suddenly swarmed around them.

"Whoa! This place looks like it's been overrun! The people must all be hiddin'!" Goofy exclaimed in surprised as each of the three brought their weapons forth.

After a few moments of fighting the Heartless, they finally claimed victory and sat down on some boxes to take a short break. "Boy...these guys seem to be getting tougher." Sora muttered as she stretched her arms over her head while dismissing her Keyblade.

"Hmm...maybe a little. The darkness must be gloomin' over this place pretty heavily. We better be better be careful." the dog said with a glance around, to which the other two nodded in agreement.

"Well...we better find and beat the one they're taking orders from, then seal the Keyhole." the brown-haired teen said, yet soon turned to the side as she noticed someone within one of the empty merchant stalls.

"Huh? Did you get caught out here during the Heartless' attack?" Sora questioned as she stood up and walked slowly over to the stall to see who was within it.

"N-Not exactly." a woman's voice spoke up as she came out of the stall to greet the trio.

This girl revealed to be a very beautiful teenager with dark skin, and dark brown eyes. Her thick, black hair was tied into a low ponytail using a blue ribbon, accompanied by a headband of the same color. However, the band itself held what appeared to be a sapphire in the center, which had a golden frame. She wore a blue bedlah outfit with long poofy bustle pants, and a top that left her forearms and midriff bare. The girl also had on a set of earrings, a necklace and slipper-like shoes that were all gold in color.

"I am Princess Jasmine, my father is the Sultan of Agrabah. But Jafar, the royal vizier, has taken over by using those creatures to not only imprison my father, but keep all the people scared enough to not even come out of their homes." the girl explained, to which each of the three blinked in response.

"You're a Princess?" Goofy asked with blinking eyes, yet soon bowed to the dark-skinned girl.

Whom just waved a hand with a small smile; "You can save that for another time...right now, might I ask you three to help me to defeat Jafar and those creatures? I saw how you fought against them just now, so I feel I can trust you." Jasmine questioned while looking at each of them.

"Though I might not be of much help, I know this place quite well. So I should be able to help you to get just about anywhere you need to go." she continued, to which the three glanced to one another briefly before back to the Princess.

"Of course we'll help~!" Sora spoke up with a grin on her features, causing Jasmine to smile softly in response.

However, just as she opened her mouth to thank them, another person spoke up from behind them. "Oh dear...now this just won't do." came the deep, yet almost snake like voice.

As they all turned, they saw a tall, yet thin man with small dark eyes, a twisted, black goatee and a faint mustache. His rather extravagant clothing consisted of black robes that reached the ground, which was worn over a red-violet garment with bell sleeves. Underneath this second article of clothing, he had yet another shirt that was black in color and had very close-fitting sleeves that reach his wrists. The shoulders of his outer robe were pointed and connect to a long, billowing black cape with a blood red interior.

The man's brown shoes were curled inward at the tip, while a red-violet sash could be seen tied around his thin waist. There was also an odd, light-colored garment that appeared to cover his neck, the back of his head, and his chest. He wore grey colored eye-shadow, along with a distinctive black mitre on his head. This having a thin, yellow pattern wrapped around the middle as well as a ruby set in the front, and a bright red feather placed just above it. Though there was a red-violet cloth hanging from the mitre, it draped over and past his shoulders.

However, as if to tie all of this together, he had a long gold, ruby-eyed, cobra-shaped scepter in his right hand. This making Sora whistle silently as she smirked; 'That thing looks cool. I'm totally taking that thing after we beat him.' she thought to herself just as Jasmine called out the name of this man in an angered tone. "Jafar!"

"My dear Princess, I'm afraid I will have to place our conversation on hold for a moment." Jafar began before looking directly to Sora with a small smirk curling his lips.

Though upon this gaze, the teen brought forth her Keyblade and narrowed her eyes on the man. "Ah yes...the dark realm's Keyblade." he said silently with a wider smirk, to which everyone raised a brow to him in question.

"Oh~? Didn't you know? Surely you must have realized by now that the Keyblade you hold in your hand is the Keyblade of the dark realm." Jafar continued, to which each of the others gasped while Sora just looked down at her weapon in shock.

All of this just made the man laugh in response as he took a step forward; "You might fight on the side of the Light, but your true destiny lies with the Darkness." he stated while pointing to the golden Keyblade with his similarly colored staff.

"So why fight against those who are on the same side?" the man in black and red questioned, him continuing to widen his smirk.

Jafar able to tell from the expression on Sora's face that she was somewhat shaken from this sudden information. Yet after she sent him a quick glance, she tilted her head down and closed her eyes. "Well, since the Keyblade chose me..." she started before opening her eyes, looking back to the man and grinning lightly.

"...I think it's all up to me on what 'side' I choose!" the teen claimed as she gained a red aura.

"And right now...I'm on my friends side!" she continued before bringing up her free hand and shooting a ball of fire at Jafar.

Whom quickly got over his shock of seeing her using such advanced magic, to which he deflected this attack with his staff. Yet immediately following this, Sora had suddenly appeared right in front of him with a yellow aura around her now. She then swung her Keyblade into Jafar's hand and knocked the staff out of his hand.

Instantly after these actions, the teen then brought her free hand forward once more as a great amount of electricity magic around it. All of which was slammed into Jafar as she sent a strong palm into the man's midsection. This causing him to groan in pain as he was knocked backward from the attack's force as he soon hit the wall behind him.

Jafar ground his teeth tightly in aggravation as he slowly stepped forward, yet his eyes soon widened when he saw Sora now holding his staff. Her having caught it just before it fell to the ground, to which she grinned lightly to him. "Oh dear...it seems that you've gone and lost your staff." the teen said with a voice that sounded as if she was mocking Jafar's own.

"Tch! You filthy street rat!" the man all but spat out as he glared at the girl.

All the while, Jasmine looked at this with a shocked, yet impressed gaze. Though she soon looked around as a great many Heartless began surrounding them. This being followed by a red parrot flying down toward them and landing on Jafar's shoulder. "I heard the racket going on, so I thought I'd lend a quick feather." the bird spoke up in a strange, yet unique voice.

The man himself slowly smirked lightly in response as he just crossed his arms and glanced to the bird. "Your timing couldn't have been more perfect, Iago." he muttered silently before turning his gaze back to Sora.

"You might be powerful...but you're still just an amateur. Not even you can defeat this many Heartless and me all at once." he stated as his expression became almost amused.

Though this quickly turned shocked once more as he noticed a black aura radiating from his staff. Of which appeared to be slowly being absorbed into Sora's hand as she continued to hold in. Yet the teen herself seemed to be completely unaware of this as she simply raised a brow at the man's constant staring. However, by the time she finally followed his gaze, the aura had vanished and there wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

"Hmph...we'll see who the amateur is." Sora muttered out with another quick glance down to the staff.

'Just when I finally got it too.' she thought silently, to which a small smirk curled her features as she lifted and slammed the staff down on the ground.

This created a burst of sand around her and the others, so much so that it was impossible to see them until it finally settled down. Though by the time it had, each of the four had already disappeared from the spot where they had been standing. Only the staff remained, which was still sticking in the ground in the same place the teen hit it into the sand. Jafar quickly clenched his teeth together once more in agitation as he retrieved his staff.

But the man soon shifted his gaze around him and toward the many Heartless nearby. "Find and dispose of them! But make sure to bring the Princess back to me alive! And find that blasted Keyhole, it has to be here somewhere!" he ordered out loudly, his anger being quite obvious.

Immediately following his orders, the Heartless disappeared and Jafar himself headed off on his own way to find the 'escapees' or possibly the Keyhole. Yet just off to the side, on the roof of one of the nearby buildings Sora and the others were hiding carefully out of sight. Though once everything and everyone was gone, the teen let out a breath in relief and looked to each of the three.

"Looks like we know who the 'big boss' is that we need to beat." Sora started as she tapped her chin lightly.

'Though it was kind of a surprise that I could manipulate sand with that staff. I wonder if I could somehow learn how to do that without even needing the staff.' she thought quickly before clearing her throat.

"Now we just need to beat him, then find the Keyhole and lock it." she continued aloud, yet in a silent voice as she then turned to Jasmine.

"Have you seen anything that could be the Keyhole? It...well...it literally looks like a large keyhole that may or may not be in a spot that they normally would be." the teen said with a brief shrug of her shoulders at the end.

"Maybe somewhere that is normally hidden and only accessible in some secret way?" Sora finished as the princess tilted her head down in thought.

"Hmm...I can't say that I've seen anything like that." Jasmine answered with an apologetic gaze and shrug.

This making each of the other three look down as if trying to think of what else they could do. Yet the princess quickly spoke up once more to them; "But it's possible that Aladdin might know."

Sora turned to her with a raised brow along with the other two, to which they each tilted their heads to the side in question as to whom she was talking about. Though Jasmine just smiled softly and placed a hand over her heart while continuing on. "He's the one who's been showing me around Agrabah, that's why I know it so well. But he's also gone off places outside of this city, so if anyone would know where this 'Keyhole' might be, it's him."

The brown-haired teen tapped her chin briefly as she nodded in response to her words; "Sounds logical. So where to we find him?" she questioned with a whisper as they heard a group of Heartless rush by below.

"He's outside the city looking for some treasures. He left just before all of this started, so he has no idea what's going on." Jasmine said back in a silent voice.

"Alright...I'll go out and look for him. It'll be easier to sneak out if it's just one of us." Sora began with a small smirk growing on her features.

"So the rest of you, try and take out as many of the Heartless as you can without drawing attention." she continued while keeping her tone as low as possible to not be heard.

"Jasmine...you help them stay out of sight after they attack." the teen said, to which she received a nod from the princess.

"Got it." the raven-haired girl muttered quickly, her gaining a smirk of her own.

"Hopefully it won't take too long to find him, but at least we can wither down Jafar's forces little by little using guerrilla tactics." Sora said silently, to which the others nodded lightly just before the teen stood up quickly and grinned.

"But in the mean time...I'll draw some out for you." she claimed loudly, to which she gained the attention of many Heartless down below.

However, as the brown-haired girl jumped down from the roof, she hit a few of the larger Heartless along the way. Once she touched the sandy ground, she immediately began running as fast as possible to and through the city's front gates. Though nearly all of the Heartless that saw her began their pursuit, the few that were left were quickly defeated by Donald and Goofy. Both of whom then rushed into one of the nearby buildings along with Jasmine to stay out of sight.

All the while, Sora brought the small army of Heartless further into the desert before finally stopping and fighting them. Although she claimed victory after a few minutes, the teen breathed heavily soon afterward and even fell to one knee. "Man...something is wrong. I don't feel like I've used that much power, yet it feels like I'm getting really exhausted after these fights lately." she muttered silently, yet unbeknownst to her, a large aura of darkness surged across her body.

* * *

Alright, that's the first chapter for this world. ^^ I'm not sure just how many chapters this one will be since it's kind of a longer one than most. 0.o But we'll see. ;) Anyway, look forward to the next chapter tomorrow...though if you're only reading this after I've already posted it, then...um...it's available. ;3 Thanks for reading everyone, I hope you'll review for this, the next, and the many chapters to come. ^^ Until next time everyone~!


	22. Agrabah part II

Alright, here we go...next chapter to Agrabah. ;) Probably one of the most different ones yet, considering how things are and will play out. ^^ I hope you'll all enjoy and make sure to review for this and the previous chapter(s). Anyway, on to the story~!

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 22: Agrabah part 2

Sora walked through the vast desert with a hard gaze as she continued her search for this 'Aladdin'. Yet after a while, she sighed heavily and groaned; "Man...why did it have to be a desert world?" she muttered silently while fanning herself with both hands.

'I'd much prefer a cold one...at least then I could just put more layers on. But in the heat...you run out of layers to take off.' the teen continued in her mind with another heavy groan.

Though not long after her thoughts, she quickly noticed a large dark cloud off to the side that didn't appear to be moving. "Hmm, well if he's looking for treasures...best start with the oddest place possible." Sora said as she smirked lightly.

"And in a place where there is nothing but desert...a black cloud that doesn't move is as 'odd' as you can get." she finished before quickly rushing in this direction.

Along the way however, the brown-haired girl blinked a few times as the air started to feel a bit colder the closer she got to the clouded area. Once she was under it, she let out a sigh of relief to the nice chill in temperature it provided. Her having been sweating quite a bit from under the sun's rays and its high degree of heat.

Yet she didn't get to enjoy this for long as she saw a huge tiger-like head made from a very large sand dune. Though even odder still as the glow coming from within its gaping mouth; "So cool~." the teen whispered with blinking, yet almost shining eyes.

Immediately following her brief comment, her interest turned to shock as a flying carpet quickly flew out of the mouth. "Well that's new." she muttered silently.

This carpet appeared to be an ornate Persian one with gold lining and tassels of the same color. A second gold lining was seen a few inches into the carpet, which had a blue 'background'. All the while, a series of gold and navy blue disk-like shapes were placed between the golden lining. Each of the corners outside of the second lining sported a vague, catfish-shaped design with a gold outline and red center.

The inner section's background was also blue with a swirling, amethyst-colored pattern that was surrounded in a gold and red pattern in the center. This vaguely resembling a flower, something of which Sora took notice of as she examined the carpet flying through the air. While at both widths of the inner border, there were red flame patterns with a thin gold outline.

But it was the last detail that drew the teen's attention, which was that in each corner of the inner section, there appeared to be golden tiger heads. Of which had white eyes, black nostrils, and a red mouth. 'That has got to be the coolest carpet I've ever seen.' Sora thought to herself quickly with a small smirk.

Yet she soon turned her attention to a person that quickly rushed out of the panther's mouth as well. Though within a split second of coming out, the mound of sand that made up the animal-like head instantly caved in to create just another small dune of the desert. All the while, this person fell into a sudden quicksand trap that sunk in the moment he stepped onto it.

The person revealed to be a slightly older teenager with tan skin, shaggy black hair and brown eyes. He wore a red-violet fez, a thin purple vest that was left open to expose his chest, and a pair of white baggy pants that were held up by an orange sash. But after looking at his appearance, the teen girl soon noticed a small monkey that crawled up from the black-haired boy's back and onto his shoulder. This animal having a similar vest and fez as the older teen, to which it quickly began letting out shrieks that made it clear it was calling for help.

Sora just smirked lightly to this before summoning her Keyblade and pointed it toward the pair sinking quickly in the sand. "Reflera!" she called out as the two were then surrounded in a barrier that prevented them from sinking any further.

This brought the brown-haired girl to rush toward them and hit her Keyblade against the barrier she created. The resulting impact caused the orb-shaped barrier to explode and send the two flying out of the sand-trap completely unharmed. Sora then looked to the pair and smirked lightly; "Well then...my name is Sora, and I'm guessing you're Aladdin?" she questioned as the older teen just blinked a few times to her.

"Huh? How did you know?" he asked back with blinking eyes, to which he slowly stood up after briefly rubbing his head from the impact against the ground.

"Jasmine...I met her just a little bit ago." Sora responded with a small smirk and shrug.

"I see, but what are you doing out here?" Aladdin inquired, him tilting his head to the side and raising a brow while placing his hands on his sides.

"I could ask the same of you, but I guess we don't really have much time for that." the teen girl began as her expression and tone became serious.

"Jafar has taken over Agrabah and is basically holding everyone hostage. Luckily Jasmine has stayed out of sight and is being protected by my friends. We better hurry back to help out." she continued, to which Aladdin became quite shocked in response.

"Then there's not a moment to lose!" he said quickly as he looked up to the flying carpet that was circling around them.

"Carpet! We gotta get to Agrabah fast!" he called out, to which the rug floated down to them and the older teen jumped on.

Sora blinked a few times to this before grinning and quickly following suit, which lead for the carpet to instantly fly off at a swift speed. But while they could see Agrabah out in the distance, it was clear it would take a little while to actually get there. 'Wow...I didn't realize just how far I traveled.' the brown-haired girl thought silently to herself.

"So, what was inside of the mouth of that tiger?" Sora question with a tilt of her head while looking over to Aladdin.

Whom turned to her with a small smirk, to which he brought forth a golden lamp from a secret pocket in one of the legs of his pants. The teen girl assuming that he likely used this pocket when there was something he needed to get and didn't want to get caught taking it.

"Well...I got this lamp and I found this carpet." he explained with a small smirk before rubbing the lamp with his hand.

"But that's not all. They don't call it the 'Cave of Wonders' for nothing." he continued as blue smoke suddenly poured out of the lamp and formed into an actual body.

"That's right~!" a male voice sang out as the body that took shape was one with sky blue skin and black hair that was tied into a topknot with a small gold ring.

He had a small, pointed nose, as well as curved and pointed ears. He wore a single gold earring on his right earlobe and had a black beard that ended in a curl. The being also had on a pair of golden bracelets on each wrist, while a red sash could be seen around his waist. Though rather than legs, he had a ghostly tail that was a slightly darker shade of blue than the rest of his body.

"Here he is...for a limited time only!" the blue-skinned man began as he spun himself around and even circled the carpet despite how fast it was flying. "The one and only; 'Genie of the lamp'~!"

After hearing this, Sora blinked many times and just took on a 'star-struck' smile on her features. Her eyes literally shining with amazement as she looked and listened to the Genie silently. However, her mind was just repeating; 'Oh my gosh! This is so awesome! I never thought genies actually existed~!'

"That's right...direct from the lamp. Right here for your very much wish fulfillment, thank you." Genie continued with a different sounding voice as he created many other versions of himself while making his original self into a thinner and unusual faced version.

During his words, each of his copies whistled, cheered and clapped for their original as if he were some sort of celebrity. Though soon afterward, he returned to normal and allowed his other selves to disappear with a puff of blue smoke. "But such a wish fulfillment only means three wishes." he stated while holding out his hand with three fingers raised.

"And ixney on the wishing for more wishes." Genie said while lowering two of his fingers to wave his pointer finger at Aladdin.

"That's it...three." he continued while transforming into three blue sheep, which were each numbered from one to three.

"One..two..three." these sheep baaed out while jumping over Sora's and Aladdin's heads.

"No substitutions, exchanges or refunds." he continued while merging the three sheep into his usual self, but with a green eyeshade hat, a pair of glasses and an old fashioned tax calculator.

The last of which had a large amount of paper rolling from it as if calculating everything that he was saying. All of which just made Sora's smile widen as she was impressed of how easily he was creating all of these things from thin air. Plus she found all of this rather funny and entertaining since he seemed to use visual references to further his words.

"So what'll it be Master?" Genie asked with a small grin as he made all of these items disappear once more.

Though both Aladdin and Sora were just looking at him with blinking eyes, the former finally managed to speak up after a moment. "Um...well, I think I'll save my wishes till later. But I'll definitely make sure to make good use of them so that I can help everyone." he said with a light nod of his head to his own words.

"Well now, you're quite the noble one there aren't ya kid? Like a true knight in shining armor." Genie commented as he suddenly appeared as a king, while Aladdin took on the appearance of a knight.

This lead for Genie to place a sword over each of the teen's shoulders as if preforming an accolade. "Certainly more so than most of my previous masters." he continued as these changes vanished with another puff of blue smoke.

"Though I guess it certainly says a lot about how far civilization has come." Genie added in a deep and rather professional sounding voice, to which he gained what seemed to be a teacher's outfit and a book titled 'World History' in his right hand.

"Truly a new step for humankind." he continued in this voice as pulled a pair of glasses from his pocket and placed them on the bridge of his nose.

"Well...when was the last time you were freed from the lamp?" Sora spoke up with blinking eyes.

"Hmm..." Genie began as his form returned to normal, to which he soon shrugged lightly; "...well a genie is never really 'free'. We usually see the light of day every one or two centuries before back to our lamps after fulfilling the three wishes of our Master of the time." he finished while letting out a silent sigh.

"Wow...I had no idea." the brown-haired teen whispered, her looking down in thought.

Yet as she soon looked up, Aladdin said almost exactly of what she was about to suggest. "Well how about I use my last wish to free you from the lamp? I'm sure that we could save Agrabah within one or two wishes anyway."

Genie immediately turned to him and blinked a few times in response; "Really? You'd actually do that?" he questioned in obvious shock.

"It's a promise." the black-haired teen stated with a smirk and a quick thumbs up.

Though not long after his words, they arrived back in Agrabah and jumped off the carpet once it landed on the sandy ground. "Lets hurry!" Aladdin called out as he and Sora rushed through the gates, to which Genie returned back into his lamp and Carpet remained outside to rest.

Once the two had made their way inside the city, they were quickly met by a great many Heartless. "Uh-oh, we've got trouble." the black-haired teen muttered, him quickly rushing over to retrieve a cutlass from one of the stalls nearby.

"Lucky all these merchants have a weapon stored away in their stalls in case of thieves." he continued, which just made Sora sweat drop as she could tell he was speaking from experience.

However, she didn't bother to think about this further as they began to fight the Heartless. Though just like before, the brown-haired teen felt herself becoming more and more exhausted by the second. Yet while her power had yet to diminish, she felt almost completely spent. Despite not understanding why, she continued to fight on until they claimed victory over the dozens of Heartless.

"You okay Sora?" Aladdin questioned with blinking eyes as he looked her over, the girl's exhaustion being easily visible.

"Y-Yeah...I just feel really worn out, even though I really shouldn't. I mean...I've beaten plenty of guys stronger than them, yet I keep feeling really tired after fighting recently." the brown-haired teen responded as she let out a heavy breath.

After her words, the young man looked down in thought and tapped his chin lightly; "Hmm...it kinda sounds like you're holding something back or even carrying something heavy." he commented, to which Sora just turned to him with blinking eyes.

"It kinda sounds like the strength training the palace guards go through. They carry bags of sand on their back in order to build up their muscles. But the trade off is that during the training, all their movements are restricted and their strength is depleted quite quickly." Aladdin continued with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I can't say that you're carrying something, but it sort of sounded like that from how you described it." the raven-haired teen finished as he obviously wasn't sure if his words helped at all.

The girl looked down briefly as she slowly looked to her Keyblade and narrowed her eyes slightly. 'Maybe my magic wasn't the only thing that became stronger after my power and potential was unlocked.' she thought silently before slowly standing herself up.

"Thanks Aladdin, I think I get it now." she said with a small smirk curling her lips.

Though the older teen blinked his eyes, as he didn't entirely know what she was talking about, he still nodded his head in response. Yet they soon heard a scream out in the distance, to which they quickly rushed in this direction. Only to come upon the scene of Jafar dragging Jasmine away with Donald and Goofy trying to fight off a large group of Heartless. All of this taking place in front of the closed gates that lead into the palace.

"Jasmine!" Aladdin called out as he quickly rushed toward Jafar.

"You're far too late street rat." the man in black and red claimed before he quickly vanished with the princess in a puff of red smoke.

This leaving behind only the royal vizier's laughter and the swarming Heartless around them. Aladdin clenched his teeth tightly as he glanced around quickly; "We've gotta save her!" he declared before turning to Sora.

"He's probably after the Keyhole. Jasmine said that it's not here in Agrabah...and I'm sure Jafar himself just recently figured it out." the teen girl explained quickly.

"That means he'll be headin' around to other places where it might be." Goofy said as each of the four formed a circle with their backs facing each other in the center of the courtyard.

"Then lets get to the outskirts fast! I think if any place would have something like that...it would be the Cave of Wonders." Aladdin said as he slashed at and defeated a Heartless that lunged toward him.

"Sounds good, but we gotta deal with these guys first!" Donald called out, to which he quickly used a Thundra spell to get rid of four of the Heartless closest to him.

Though after his words, Sora quickly began looking around for a possible way out. Yet she soon noticed two exits on either side of the courtyard, both of which were high up and required them to climb up a series of merchant stalls. The brown-haired girl narrowed her eyes to this before she glanced around to the Heartless around them.

'About fifty in total. If we each defeat ten, we can probably just escape the rest easily. But the longer we spend fighting, the further Jafar will get from us.' she thought to herself before turning to Aladdin.

Whom brought out the lamp from his pant's pocket and stabbed his cutlass into the ground to free his other hand. However, just as he was about to rub its golden surface, Sora grabbed his wrist. "No...don't waste a wish here." she whispered to him, to which she gestured for him to follow her gaze up to the two exits aside from the large entrance they came in from.

Of which was blocked by three massive Heartless that were black in color, yet wore red and orange vests, along with blue pants. Though as Aladdin saw these exits, he glanced to Sora as she nodded her head lightly to confirm what she was suggesting. This lead for him to pick his cutlass back up and put the lamp away in his pocket once more.

"I'll create an opening for all of you, so run as fast as you can out of the city. Then, once you're out, wish for Jasmine to return to your side and wait for me there." the brown-haired teen began as each of the three continued to dispose of the few Heartless that ventured too close.

These beings of darkness just swarming around them as they seemed more keen on just keeping the group from escaping than actually attacking. Yet this didn't go unnoticed by Sora as she blasted one of them with a ball of fire while intentionally leaving herself open for attack. This confirming her thoughts as none of them had even made a move to try and strike her.

'He must know that we'll get out of this eventually, so he told them to just block our path in order to draw this out for as long as possible. He's a bit more clever than I expected.' she thought quickly with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Wait...aren't you coming with us?" Aladdin asked as he quickly glanced over to her, though it gave a Heartless enough time to sneak up toward him.

However, this Heartless was soon defeated as Sora shot it with a blast of ice magic, to which she just smirked lightly to the older teen. "I'll catch up to you, don't worry." she said with a light nod of her head to further her words.

"Once you've made the wish, Jafar will come back for her. But I'll be there to help fight him, so we should be able to beat him easily by working together. Once we've won, then we'll be able to find and seal the Keyhole ourselves." the teen continued as she began to glow a bright blue color.

"Gotcha!" each of the other three called out in order to confirm that they understood the plan.

"Get ready...I'm going to open the path." Sora whispered while waving her free hand over the 'blade' of her weapon.

Immediately following this, she swung her hand and Keyblade out in either direction. This sending a wave of ice magic in a perfect 'V' that froze each of the Heartless in its path. Yet said trail lead all the way to each of the exits that previously had only a few Heartless guarding them. Though once they were destroyed, Aladdin, Donald and Goofy quickly rushed to and through these exits.

Afterward, Sora just let out a sigh in relief and quickly backed up to the large closed gates behind her. "Well..." she started, to which looked down to her free hand.

Of which took on a brief dark aura before disappearing soon after she closed it into a fist; "...looks like it's time to find out if Aladdin was right." she muttered silently.

'Is the darkness weighing down on me like a bag of sand, or am I just getting weaker.' the teen continued in her mind while her eyes narrowed slightly on the Heartless swarming in front of her.

Though seconds after her thoughts, her whole body took on a black aura and her eyes had, unbeknownst to her, became a golden color. 'Time to give this 'Darkness' a test run.' Sora thought with a small smirk curling her lips before rushing forward.

* * *

There you have it, the next chapter will feature the extent of Sora's 'awakened' dark powers. ;) And yes, that means the darkness she'll start off with in the story. And yes again, they'll be growing and developing over the course of the series. ^^ So let me know what all of you think, I know it's taken a while to get to this point, but it was something I wanted to lead up to rather than just have it thrown in with no build up or reason. ;D Just remember, from this point on, Darkness will be a part of her powers and will cause consequences along the way, along with helping her as well. Anyway, I hope all of you enjoyed and will review to let me know what you thought. Until next time everyone~!


	23. Agrabah part III

Thank you very much to each of you who reviewed the last two chapters. ^^ I know I was gone for a while, but I hope I've made it worth the wait. ;) Anyway, on to the chapter.

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 23: Agrabah part 3

As Sora rush toward the swarming group of Heartless, she brought her free hand out to the side and quickly snapped her fingers. This bringing the two Heartless under her command out from her own shadow; "Lets go!" she called out to them.

Immediately following her words the pair of black creatures rushed up along side the teen. Each of the two charging forward together with Sora, whom lead them into the fray as she slashed at the Heartless in front of her. This attack being directed toward the three opponents to her left, all of whom were quickly reduced to black smoke. All the while, the teen's own duo of Heartless had begun their own attack as each heart released from their enemies were drawn into them.

Though, the brown-haired girl paid this little mind as she used her Keyblade to send another slash to her foes. Yet this time it was to the four on her right, at which time they disappeared soon after the attack and allowed six more to take their place. Narrowing her eyes, Sora quickly looked to her left once more as she noticed a few of the larger Heartless coming toward her.

Of which lead for her to bring her left hand out and gather up some of the dark energy currently surrounding her into a ball. Upon doing this, the teen immediately shot the sphere of darkness into these Heartless with great force. This not only defeating each of her intended targets, but also many others that were in that direction as the ball suddenly expanded upon contact with the first opponent.

'Whoa...I'm gonna have to give that attack a name after this.' she thought quickly to herself while ducking under one of the Heartless' attacks.

Sora then spun herself around while remaining ducked and swept one of the large Heartless' legs as it was the one to throw a first at her. Upon contact however, a burst of dark energy caused her enemy to not only fall backward, but also get knocked into the air a few feet before hitting the ground with a thud. Though the teen blinked to this for a moment, she soon took on a wide grin; "Lets try this!" she called out before blasted a mixture of ice magic and dark energy into the Heartless from her Keyblade.

The appearance of this attack looked like a light blue beam of magic with a black aura around it. Yet it was the resulting blast of energy that made all of the Heartless, that weren't initially destroyed from it, go flying backward. This made Sora blink many times as her somewhat short hair flew back slightly from the shockwave.

"Now that was awesome." she mutter before looking over to her own two Heartless that stayed just far enough away from the attack to survive.

"Sorry about that...I'll make sure not to use that without telling you first." Sora said in a sheepish tone before quickly turning around and hitting one of the smaller Heartless as it leapt down from above to catch her by surprise.

'Okay...' she started in her mind while looking at each of the remaining enemies; '...just fifteen left.' the brown-haired girl continued with narrowed eyes.

'I must have beat about twenty with that last attack, but I still feel like I haven't used a whole lot of power yet.' Sora mused to herself while blasting off another sphere of darkness to a group of five Heartless rushing toward her.

"I guess I'll save the rest for when I face Jafar." she muttered before helping her pair of Heartless to finish off the remaining ten enemies using just her Keyblade.

"Alright...job well done." the teen said silently, yet no sooner had these words left her lips, a loud smashing noise was heard.

Upon turning to the source of this sound, Sora saw a bizarre Heartless that had a large round, blue-colored head. It had glowing yellow eyes with two twisted antennae between them, similarly numbered black-tipped mandibles, and a strange emblem on its forehead. Though the teen had soon recalled seeing this symbol on the 'boss' Heartless she met in Traverse Town. Yet while the middle of its body was made up of five, large red pots, the end was a similar color as the head and sported two short dark-blue 'tails'.

"Ugh...and I thought the chameleon one was weird." the brown-haired girl muttered silently as she readied her weapon once more.

Yet she paused as the Heartless moved rather slowly toward her, to which she glanced over to her own creatures of darkness on either side of her. Though her gaze soon went to her Keyblade as the teeth part was soon covered in a thick aura of darkness, causing her to smirk lightly.

"Alright you two. I wanna try something out, so I'm going to use magic to take out the middle. Then you two sink into the ground and hit the two ends into the air from below." she halfway ordered, halfway asked.

"I'll take care of the rest." the teen finished as she flipped her Keyblade in a reverse-hand grip.

Despite her pausing for a moment, while thinking that this style of wielding seemed familiar, she quickly turned back to her opponent. Of which had reared its head and first three pots of its body into the air as if readying to attack. However, Sora brought her free hand out and up as a blast of darkness-coated lighting struck the Heartless. This attack caused the centipede-like creature to fall backward while the pots making up it's center shattered apart.

"Now!" the brown-haired teen called out, to which her two Heartless sunk into the ground as shadows and moved toward their enemy.

Once under the larger Heartless, they emerged with a burst of dark power, of which knocked the insect-like creature into the air. Immediately following this, Sora moved at great speed to get under the two parts of the Heartless and generated even more dark energy around her Keyblade.

"Shadow Raid!" she called out before throwing her weapon at her opponent with great force.

Upon contact, a huge blast of darkness nearly blocked out the sky and even lightly shook the walls around them. Despite the Heartless that Sora attacked had disappeared within seconds of this, the attack's 'explosion' continued for a few extra moments. Though the teen still managed to catch her Keyblade as it came spinning back to her, she soon looked up to one the wall nearest of her. Which had a large section missing from it in the spot that the darkness engulfed, it being about ten feet in each direction

All of this just made her blink many times as she looked up silently; 'Whoa...that was intense. Though it kinda took a bit out of me, I'm seriously amazed that the power of darkness could be so destructive.' she thought to herself with narrowed eyes.

Yet she soon glanced down her her weapon as she still held it in a reverse grip, to which she raised a brow with a tilt of her head. 'Though...I really don't know why, but I feel like I've wielded something like this before.' she continued in her mind, yet quickly shook her head and flipped her Keyblade around to her usual grip.

"What a second!" she spoke out with wide eyes; "I said a really cool name for that attack just then!" she continued before looking down in thought.

"Aw man...what was it again?" she questioned before groaning in frustration as she couldn't seem to remember it.

However, Sora quickly turned to the side as she could almost feel a dark presence coming closer, of which she could tell was still outside of Agrabah. This telling her that is was likely Jafar coming back for Jasmine, causing her to smirk at Aladdin's success. "Oh well, I'll remember later. For now...I better head over there." the brown-haired girl muttered silently, to which her dark aura faded and allowed her eyes to return to normal.

But before she could even take a single step, the brief flash of black energy from her two Heartless made her pause and turn to them. Both of them seemed like they had steam radiating from their bodies for a moment before they were covered in a thick dark power. Within seconds, this had faded away and revealed them to be still the same height as before. Though now they were much thinner and had a greater 'stream-line' appearance to them.

"Cool." Sora whispered silently with a small smirk, though her expression quickly turn to a thoughtful one as she tilted her head down.

'Although...' she began in her mind, yet immediately cut herself short as she felt Jafar's presence finally stop where she assumed the front gates of the city were located.

This lead for her to turn to her Heartless quickly; "Thanks for your help! I'll call for you two again when I need you!" she called out before rushing away toward the entrance of Agrabah.

All the while, the two Heartless glanced to each other, sunk into the ground as shadows and disappeared completely. The teen briefly looked over her shoulder to them as she went on, to which her thoughtful gaze seemed to increase a she tilted her head down slightly.

'...now I'm wondering just how much more power they gained.' she continued on from her previous thought.

'I mean...if the voice from that 'dream' was right, I need to remain strong at heart and power in order for them to listen to me. But for how long will they continue before they decide to see which of us are stronger?' Sora questioned to herself.

'Though one other thing I'm wonder is...why am I suddenly able to sense to presence of those with hearts filled with darkness?' she continued with a sigh; 'All these questions and no answers...I wonder who I could even talk to about this.'

Yet Sora quickly shook her head of these thoughts as she arrived at the open gates of the city. Her immediately seeing ten 'Jafars' attacking Aladdin, Donald and Goofy from every direction. The trio having their backs to Jasmine as they did their best to protect her from each of the duplicates' attacks. Though the teen soon smirked lightly as she rushed toward this fight, to which she brought her Keyblade out and shot a Thundaga spell into three of the Jafars. Each of whom had been taken by surprise as they had dispersed into red smoke upon being hit.

Following this, each of the other Jafars turned their attention to the brown-haired girl and floated toward her. However, only one of them took the lead and spoke up while taking on a sickening smirk. "Ah yes...the sweet scent of darkness." he began with a light, yet blood-boiling laugh.

"I see you've gotten somewhat accustomed to your powers. So...does this mean you've finally accepted your fate?" the man in black and red continue, to which he raised a brow slightly in question.

"Hmph...I think I already explained this before. My 'fate' is whatever I choose it to be." was all Sora stated as she regained her black aura, though it seemed slightly less intense this time and her eyes remained unchanged.

This made Jafar narrow his eyes and noticeably ground his teeth in frustration; "Hmph! Have it your way!" he called out while getting ready to fight.

The brown-haired girl simply smirked lightly and glanced to Aladdin; "Hey Aladdin! Make your second wish for Jafar's power to be gone." she said with a wink as the older teen took on a small grin.

Once these words left her lips, Jafar's eyes widened in shock before he turned to Aladdin as he rubbed the lamp to bring forth Genie. "I wish for Jafar to no longer have any powers!" he called out as the blue being shrugged lightly.

"You got it." Genie said before he suddenly took on the appearance of some sort of maintenance worker.

He then went over to Jafar, whom glared at him greatly as if ready for a fight. Yet Genie simply spun him around like a rag-doll, to which he lifted up the cloth covering the back of his neck. Where of which Sora saw a switch that said 'On' and 'Off', while the switch itself was in the 'On' position. Though Genie then flipped it down to 'Off' and released the man as he fell to the ground rather weakly.

"That'll be about two fifty-seven, plus about forty-three for maintenance fees and another hundred for equipment. So lets call it even at about five hundred." the blue man said in a strange accent as he held out a hand to accept the money.

Sora chuckled to this as her dark aura slowly faded, to which she looked to Genie and smiled; "Thanks a ton. I don't think we could have done this without you." she said while walking over to him.

Genie turned to her while returning to normal and smiling back; "No problem kiddo. You and Al seem to be really good people, so I'm happy to help out...even if it is through wishes." he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

The teen smiled a bit wider to his words, yet quickly turned to Aladdin as he quickly called out to someone. "Hey! Give that back!"

As they turned to him, they saw the red parrot Iago, flying over to Jafar with the magic lamp in his talons. This made Sora narrow her eyes in response before rushing over to try and get to the lamp first, yet she wasn't fast enough as the bird dropped it into Jafar's hand. Of which made the man laugh loudly as he made his first wish while rubbing the lamp; "Make me into the most powerful sorcerer in the world!"

Genie looked at this in shock before down in shame as he pointed a finger toward Jafar and allowed a burst of magic to hit him. Immediately following this, the man glowed a bright orange color before a black aura coated this light. All the while, Jafar laughed maniacally and Sora rushed at him with the others. However, they were all quickly pushed back by a magical force that knocked them to the ground almost ten yards from where they were originally.

"You believe you're superior to me?! We'll see who is more superior!" Jafar yelled out as he brought his staff forward and blasted a beam of orange magic at the teen.

Though before it could hit, Aladdin jumped in the way and took the attack, to which he let out a scream of pain before falling limply to the ground. "Aladdin!" both Sora and Jasmine called out as the latter rushed over to him, while Sora herself just stared with a shocked expression.

Despite seeing Aladdin breathing, Sora soon glared at Jafar as if he had actually killed her raven-haired friend. "Oh what's wrong little girl? Did you get mad because I hurt your fellow street rat?!" the man asked with another laugh and sickening smirk.

"Tch, and here I was giving you an easy way out." the brown-haired teen muttered before her dark aura returned, yet it appeared to be even more sinister than before.

Though Jafar didn't appear impressed by this, the sudden change in her eye color from blue to gold made him rather shocked. Yet none of them could have guessed that it was due to having seen this sort of thing from someone else. However, most of their gazes were on the girl herself and didn't give anyone time to consider this. But when Sora suddenly appeared in front of Jafar, each of their eyes widened in response, especially Jafar's.

Said man looked at her in surprise, yet wasn't able to react fast enough to the teen's 'Sonic Blade'. Of which knocked him back with such force that the sand around him parted quickly while he sailed just a few feet over it. Sora swiftly moving at great speed behind the man before he could hit the ground and readied her Keyblade to the side with both hands.

The very moment Jafar came into her range, the brown-haired girl swiftly swung her weapon directly into his back. Though it was the resulting burst of darkness that exploded from the teen's Keyblade that caused the true reason for the man to scream in pain. Yet as he was immediately blasted forward a few dozen yards before his momentum finally stopped after hitting a large dune of sand.

Upon witnessing all of this, Donald, Goofy, Jasmine, Genie, Iago and even a barely conscious Aladdin just stared at Sora in utter shock. Said teen just breathed a bit heavily as she looked down to her Keyblade briefly and narrowed her eyes to Jafar, whom was slowly getting up.

'I feel like I'm running low on juice. I think using that much darkness all at once is really getting to me.' she thought quickly to herself.

"Tch...if I use too much or too little, I end up feeling exhausted. Such an annoying drawback." Sora muttered, yet briefly tilted her head up in thought.

"Although..." she continued before smirking lightly; '...if I master it, I could use it freely all I want.' she finished as her golden eyes almost seemed to briefly glow in determination.

* * *

There you have it, a bit of 'underlined' future exposition and hopefully a nice fight to give all of you an idea of the sort of power Sora will wield. ^^ Though I did forget to mention last chapter that her powers were enhanced by absorbing the darkness from both Cloud and Jafar's staff, all of this is still within her usual range. It's just that the enhancement has made it easier for her to use this amount of power without feeling the drawbacks very quickly. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. ;) Until next time~!


	24. Agrabah part IV

Sorry for the late update, this was just a really long chapter and I basically wrote it all in a single night. 0.o So I hope all of you still enjoy it. ^^

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 24: Agrabah part 4

Sora's smirk slowly faded as she narrowed her eyes on Jafar, whom had finally brought himself back to his feet. As the teen clenched her hands tightly, the dark aura around her flared across her body like small flames. This prompting the brown-haired girl to shift her body to the side as if to preform a 'Sonic Blade', yet the distance between herself and Jafar was rather far.

Them being almost thirty yards away from one another, yet Sora just continued to focus her dark powers around herself. "Lets see how you handle all the darkness I've got left." she muttered silently as she bent her knees slightly.

Her actions signaling the man that she was about to attack, which lead for him to bring up the lamp and make his next wish in a panic. "I wish for you to take me to the Keyhole, now!" he called out quickly.

Him saying this in the exact moment the teen experienced a small pain in her chest, which caused her to flinch briefly. Yet she had then vanished from her spot quickly, to which a trail of billowing sand was the only thing to show where she was. Though just when it seemed like she would hit Jafar, Genie's magic caused him to vanish in a puff of blue smoke along with the blue-skinned being himself. Said genie calling out to each of them, just before disappearing with his new 'Master'. "It's at the Cave of Wonders!"

However, despite hearing this and noticing that Jafar was not there, Sora was unable to stop herself as she had been only a feet of hitting her target. Yet after this person vanished and the teen continued with her attack, a huge wave of dark energy blasted out of her weapon. This spreading outward almost ten feet across and nearly one hundred feet in distance from where Sora stood. The sand having parted heavily and turned to three inch glass all the way through the affected area.

All of this causing everyone's eyes to widen, including Sora herself as even she was surprised at the extent of the darkness inside of her. But immediately following this, she dismissed her Keyblade and looked down in thought; "What was that pain just before I attacked?" she muttered silently while bringing a hand up to her chest.

But she immediately dismissed this question as she then turned to the others. "We gotta follow them! The cave isn't too far, so we can..." Sora began quickly, yet soon wobbled on her feet.

The brown-haired girl's vision suddenly blurring as she slowly fell over, to which she brought her hands out and knees down to catch herself. This lead for the others to rush toward her, even Aladdin, whom was healed by Donald's magic. But while they came toward her, they saw a swirl of darkness around the girl as if threatening to swallow her inside of it. "Sora!" they all called out in unison.

Though the girl could hear them, their voices seemed far off and in the distance, her now blue eyes appearing a bit hazy while she looked at the dark energy under her. All the while, the sclera of her eyes slowly turned black as if to further show her consumption into the darkness. Yet Sora slowly brought a hand up to her face as she closed her eyes; 'Okay...I wasn't expecting this.' she thought while her mind felt it was becoming more and more cloudy.

'I guess I really shouldn't rely so heavily on the darkness...it'll consume me if I do.' the teen continued before clenching her other hand into a fist while feeling herself starting to sink downward.

"But I won't let it take me now. I still have to find Kairi." she whispered as she snapped her eyes open as a light shined from her chest briefly.

This lead for the color of her eyes to become golden once more and the black in her sclera to return to white. Yet the girl's eyes quickly turned to their normal blue just as the others surround her and kneeled down to help her up. Though the next thing they saw was the swirl of darkness under Sora being absorbed into her body. Said brown-haired teen slowly standing back up and letting out a breath, to which she looked around to the others with blinking eyes.

"What's up? We need to go after Jafar quickly if we have any hope of winning." she said as she tilted her head to the side slightly.

Each of them looked at her in shock once more as she seemed to be just full of surprises. Yet it was Aladdin who spoke up first as he quickly snapped out of his amazement first; "W-Well...it looks like Genie confirmed that the Keyhole is in the Cave of Wonders. So yes...we better hurry."

After his words, he whistled to Carpet, which came flying over to them and hovered next to him. Though he soon gestured for both Sora and the Princess beside to her to get on; "I think it's best for you to go back to Agrabah with Jasmine. You've already exhausted yourself, so you need to rest."

Sora raised a brow to him for a few moments before smirking and waving a hand. "Not a chance." she began with a slightly wider smirk.

"I'm the only one who can stand up to Jafar at his current level of power. Plus, I have to seal the Keyhole...otherwise this world might be consumed by the Heartless." Sora continued as Aladdin eventually looked down, him understanding that she had a very valid point.

"Though...I do agreement that you should head back to Agrabah." the brown-haired girl said while turning to Jasmine.

"It should be much safer there than anywhere else at the moment." the teen continued, to which the tan-skinned girl slowly nodded in response.

"Alright...I'll be waiting for your return in the court yard of the palace. I'll also send Carpet back to you once I'm at the palace, so make sure to come back alive." the princess said as they each nodded back to her.

Once she had crawled onto the carpet, it flew off with her back to Agrabah at top speed. This prompted the others to quickly rushed toward the Cave of Wonders as fast as they possibly could. Many of them being a bit surprised that Sora was basically leading them, her being slightly slightly faster than the rest of them. However, they didn't notice how out of breath she was getting the further along they went.

'Okay...maybe I should have started off with a light jog.' she thought to herself as she began to slow down more and more.

'I've only slightly recovered from using so much power, so I should probably take it as easy as possible.' Sora continued silently while taking more controlled breaths.

Yet they had soon reached near of the entrance by the time the others caught up to the teen, so they didn't see her exhaustion. Their attention going to the sand-made, tiger head in front of them, or more specifically the dark energy within its glowing eyes. Sora narrowed her eyes to this as she slowly managed to catch her breath before summoning her Keyblade once more.

'I wonder why it suddenly opened again. It closed the last time I came here less than a half hour ago. Though I guess it's likely Jafar simply placed a spell on it in order to slow us down since we'd find a way inside anyway.' she thought quickly as she readied to fight.

'We took about ten minutes to get here, so he had more than enough time to set traps for us.' the teen continued as the tiger head let out a growl and shot spheres of darkness from its eyes and toward each of the four.

All of whom, dodged out of the way from these, though Sora was a bit slower than the others as she let out a heavy breath. 'I think I should only use magic against this thing. My body feels exhausted from using so much dark power...and my darkness itself feels much weaker.' the brown-haired girl said to herself in her mind as she brought her Keyblade out.

This being followed by a blast of ice magic that hit the surface of the sand and immediately froze it over. However, the frozen sand had just fallen away and was replaced by the other sand around it. Of which made each of them narrow their eyes, it being clear that physical attacks would have next to no effect on this opponent.

Yet while looking the tiger-head over, she noticed that the ice that reached up toward one of the eyes was still partially frozen. Upon seeing this, she smirked lightly in response and looked around to the others as they were rushing around. Them having to continue dodging the balls of darkness the tiger-head continued to shoot from its eyes. Though the teen herself had some of these coming toward her as well, she just kept creating Reflega spells around to to keep them away.

"Aim for the eyes!" she called out before summoning a bolt of lighting from the middle of the air to hit the eye she had froze slightly.

The result was almost as she expected, the tiger-head reeled back as if in pain as the darkness around that eye had slowly faded away. Immediately after seeing this however, the other three rushed toward their opponent and attacked the other glowing eye. Each of them striking one after another until the darkness had vanished and the head just stopped moving.

"You have freed me from the dark!" it suddenly spoke out with a very deep and echoing voice.

"You may enter into the Cave of Wonders!" it continued before opening its mouth to allow them inside.

Sora just blinked to this and turned to Aladdin with a tilt of her head; "Um...did it talk the first time you came here?" she asked in a whisper as she was afraid of offending the tiger-head.

"Yeah...but it was really only to tell me that I was allowed inside because I was a 'diamond in the rough'." he whispered back as they each slowly made their way inside of the mouth and down the stairs immediately following the 'tongue'.

"It's like we were eaten." Donald muttered silently as they continued on their way.

Though while their pathway consisted of many strange contraptions and such that threatened to send them into a dark abyss, they continued on. All this giving Sora the time she needed to rest her powers, but her physical strength was still rather low in comparison. Even when they finally reached the large cavern in which Jafar was in, she was still rather tired.

But she didn't have any time to think about how this would affect her fighting as they quickly saw the Keyhole exposed from within the side of one of the cave walls. However, it was the flowing dark energy around it that made each of them worry greatly. There being a large swarm of Heartless both around and coming through it as they all turned to the group upon their arrival.

"Oh no! They're fillin' the world's heart with darkness! It'll be consumed completely if we don't do somethin' quick!" Goofy called out, to which each of them nodded and readied to fight.

"Ah...so the street rats come crawling in. But I'm afraid you're far too late...there is nothing you can do now. This world is mine!" Jafar called out as he stood in the middle of the Heartless swarm.

"I don't think so." Sora stated with narrowed eyes as she glanced to the three with her.

"I'll take Jafar, you guys get rid of as many Heartless as you can to clear a path for me to seal the Keyhole." she whispered to them, to which she received a series of nods in response.

Though as they all rushed off to fight the Heartless, she could tell that they were still watching her closely. This making it clear that they were going to step in to help her fight if she showed she couldn't handle it alone. 'I guess I wouldn't expect much else from my friends.' the teen thought to herself with a small smile.

But she soon glanced down at her Keyblade while Jafar made his way over to her with slow, yet deceptive steps as he alternated between long and short strides. 'I'll have to be very careful while I'm like this. My magic is still my best bet, since my body really didn't take my use of darkness very well. And even with my dark power returning...it's too risky to use in this state.' she thought quickly to herself before her eyes narrowed further while looking to her opponent.

Whom of which was only a few feet away from her as he just grinned widely; "Having a bit of trouble are we? Feeling rather winded by any chance?" he questioned with great amusement in his tone.

"Yes, I am." Sora admitted as she just smirked at the man in confidence, which made him raise a brow.

"But I can still kick you sorry butt without even needing to move from this spot." she claimed with a small grin curling her lips.

Jafar raised his brow higher before laughing in response; "Do you really think you can achieve such a feat?!" he demanded, him almost sounding offended.

"I wished to become the most powerful sorcerer in the world! You might have overpowered me with your dark powers, but if you can no longer use them...then you're utterly helpless against me!" he continued, to which his tone turned one of pride toward himself.

"Not one inch." was all the brown-haired girl said as if to further her previous words, which noticeably made Jafar quite angry.

"We'll see about that!" the man yelled before summoning a large bolt of lightning from his staff.

However, just before it could hit, the attack was stopped by a Reflega spell that shimmered around the teen. Of which made Jafar smirk in amusement and continuously strike the barrier with a series of lightning bolts. "Very well then, lets see whose magic will last longer!" he called out as his bombardment persisted.

Though no matter how many times he hit her Reflega spell, it didn't even appear to be under strain. This making the man grind his teeth in frustration as he even began to use other spells such as fire, ice and even sand magic. Yet nothing seemed to work as Sora slowly closed her eyes tightly, her appearing to be putting all her effort into concentrating on keeping the barrier up.

'Just a little more.' she thought silently as she cracked an eye open to see the immense magic Jafar was using just to break her spell.

All the while, the other three were blocked off from interfering with the fight as the Heartless continued to swarm endlessly around them. But despite all this, Genie, whom was floating high in the air of the cavern, was shouting out the them of the Heartless' attacks. "Behind you Al! From the right Goofy! Above you Donald!"

Despite this annoying and frustrating Jafar, he seemed to take all this out on the Reflega magic around Sora. Which after a few more strikes finally starting to show signs of weakening, though it just made the teen smirk lightly as she recalled Merlin's words when he taught her the spell.

" _Reflect is an Advanced magic that can only be used by truly powerful mages. It briefly produces a barrier of light that blocks any attacks. Though with enough concentration, it can remain in place for as long as the wielder's inner magic allows it to. Also, if an attack is successfully guarded, the barrier will unleash a spray of light as it disperses. Which will deal damage equal to the enemy's attack power to anything or anyone hit by the light. Of course, Reflera and Reflega make increasingly larger barriers, which counter with bigger sprays of light. So if you master it...you'll be able to counter even the most powerful of attacks."_

Immediately following this memory, Sora snapped her eyes fully open and allowed her Reflega to disperse. Once it had, a huge array of light shined around her and completely consumed Jafar inside of it. This causing him to let out a scream while flying into a wall, to which he gasped and just fell limply to the ground.

Though the light had also hit many Heartless nearby, there were still a huge number of them all throughout the cavern. Sora soon narrowed her eyes once more and pointed her Keyblade toward the Keyhole and allowed a beam of light to shoot out from the tip of her weapon. Once it went into and through the key-shaped hole, a locking noise was heard and a light engulfed the area.

As this cleared, the Keyhole appeared to have vanished along with many of the Heartless as the light itself seemed to have eliminated over half of them. Upon seeing this, each of the four smirked in response and finished off the remaining Heartless within just a few moments. Yet Sora herself fell to one knee as she was once again exhausted from having to use so much power so soon.

"Thank you so much for everything you three. You really saved us." Aladdin said as he came beside Sora even as Donald used a Cura spell on her to try and restore some of her stamina.

Despite having little effect on her, the teen did feel a bit better compared to how she did before. 'At least I'm not about to pass out.' she thought briefly before smirking lightly to Aladdin.

"It was the least we could do, we're friends after all, right?" she said as her expression turn to a small grin.

After her words, the older teen smirked in response and nodded his head to her. "Yeah...and friends look out for each other." he muttered silently with a wider smirk.

"Yep." Sora added before she blinked a few times when she realized that Donald's spell had given her a bit more strength than she initially thought.

This made her smirk lightly and turn to the duck with a small smile while thanking him for using his magic. Of which just lead for him to wave a feathered hand and smile back in response; "No problem."

The brown-haired teen continued her smile as she looked down in thought once more. 'Wait...so my Curaga can restore my strength and stamina even after using my dark powers? So as long as I have enough magic and time, I can use it almost infinitely.' she mused to herself with a growing smile on her features.

Yet she sweat dropped and shook her head of this thought as she added this moments later; 'Although, I think it would be safer if I don't try something like that. Especially since I simply got lucky this time around.'

Though after this, Genie came flying down to them and grinned widely; "That was amazing you guys!" he called out happily while transforming into what looked like an old fashion movie director.

"Intense battles...remarkable strategies...unbelievable odds! All of you were just spectacular~!" he all but sang out to them as they just smiled back to him.

However, their smiles quickly vanished as they heard Jafar's voice once more; "Genie! For my final wish, I want you to transform me into an all powerful genie!"

"Then I can destroy you all with an unlimited amount of power!" he continued while Genie himself stared at him in shock before covering his eyes and shooting a beam of magic into the man.

This created a huge surge of power that cracked the ground under them heavily and even revealed a whole other cavern below. But this one had lava flowing within it and only had a fifty foot platform to keep them from burning alive. Despite getting out of the way from the crumbling floor, each of the four looked to this new cavern and narrowed their eyes to the sight of 'Genie Jafar'.

Him being quite large with blood red skin, black hair tied in a top knot and pointed ears. The right of which had a gold piercing on it, which matched the same color of his eyes. Though he retained both his goatee and red-violet sash, he now held a ghost-like tail rather than legs. He also gained short, black claws on each of his five fingers.

Jafar himself was floating just over the lava and to the side of the platform, of which seemed to move slightly with the waves of magma. "Come on down here street rats...and I'll make your demise swift." he said with a smirk on his features.

Immediately following his words, the entrance of which the four used to come into this cavern was blocked off by a powerful magical barrier. Upon seeing this, Sora narrowed her eyes and looked back to the smug expression on Jafar's face. 'He's got us beat.' she thought for a moment as she tilted her head down.

'How do we defeat a geni-?' yet she cut herself short as she recalled Genie's own words, of which lead for her to turn to the blue-skinned being.

"Hey Genie...all genies have a lamp that they return to, right?" she asked with a small smirk curling her lips, to which Genie mimicked this as he quickly caught onto her idea.

"You're a genius." he said with a light nod while the other three soon realized what they were talking about.

Once they all turned their attention back to Jafar, they soon noticed Iago flying around with a black lamp in his talons. Him seeming to be trying to find a way out of the cave on his own since Jafar blocked the only other way out. This lead for Sora to summon her Keyblade and cast Curaga on herself; "Well then boys...lets go get that lamp." she muttered before they charged down into the new area.

Though while Jafar's magic was indeed strong, it was very easy to dodge since he used spells that took too long to generate and were somewhat predictable. Which made it easy for them to get the lamp from Iago as he wasn't able to find any other way out. This leading for Sora to hold up the black lamp and cause Jafar to get sucked inside while screaming out in frustration. Also not without dragging Iago inside as well just before the bird could fly away.

"You lose Jafar. You probably should have thought it through more than; 'more power means I can defeat them'." Sora said to the lamp as if knowing the newly made genie could hear her.

She then looked around to the others and smirked widely with a thumbs up; "Looks like we succeed in not only saving this world, but also preventing Jafar from causing anymore trouble for Agrabah." she stated while taking on a grin.

"Looks that way. Thanks again Sora, Donald, Goofy...you guys are the best." Aladdin said with his own thumbs up.

The teen just grinned wider as she then glanced around for a moment and sighed since there was no way for them to get back up to the higher level. Though while she glanced down to Jafar's lamp in her hands, she just chuckled lightly to the thought of making Jafar wish them out of the cave. However, she didn't even need to consider this further as Carpet soon came flying down and let them all on.

Yet as they flew off, Sora simply tossed Jafar's lamp just as they passed over the abyss they had to avoid while journeying through the cave. 'I wonder what's even down there.' she thought briefly while watching the lamp disappear.

Along the way of their flight back to Agrabah, Genie had given Aladdin his lamp once more. "Thanks Genie, I'm definitely going to keep my promise to you." he said with a small smirk on his features.

Though immediately following landing in Agrabah, they were told by one of the guards that Princess Jasmine had been kidnapped. Each of the guards being knocked out within seconds, to which the Princess was gone by the time that had woken up. This making Aladdin ready to rush off to find her, yet was stopped as Genie explained that she was no longer in that world.

"Trust me...I'm a genie, I can feel these things. But you don't need to worry, Just use your last wish to bring Jasmine back here and it'll all be fine." he said with a small smirk and pat on Aladdin's shoulder.

"But...I promised you Genie." the raven-haired teen said silently as he tilted his head down, him and the others all gathered in front of the doors that lead out of the palace's court yard.

"Hey...no worries, this is a much more important matter after all." was the blue-skinned being's response as he hovered near of them.

Sora just looking down with a solemn expression as she seemed to be hoping something, though it wasn't entirely clear. All the while, Donald and Goofy appeared to just be waiting for Aladdin's response to Genie's suggestion. However, after a few moments, the older teen soon looked to the blue-skinned being and gave a small smirk.

"I wish...for your freedom Genie." he said, causing everyone to blink in response, though this only increased as the genie was surrounded in purple magic.

Though once it dispersed, it revealed the golden bands on his wrists to have vanished and for legs to form where they should have been. These being covered in a pair of baggy, blue-colored pants and also a pair of red, toe-curled shoes. "A promise is a promise...but would you be willing to go with Sora to find Jasmine? I'd really appreciate it." the teen continued while looking to Genie with a small smile.

This lead for said being to just smile back to him and nod in response; "Well...I've never tried a favor for a friend, so it'll be a nice change of pace." Genie said as he looked to Sora.

Whom blinked to all this and slowly gained a small smirk on her features; "Just leave it to us." she stated with a gesture to herself as she looked to Aladdin with a confident expression.

* * *

And there you have it, that's the end for Agrabah. Definitely the longest out of all the worlds and probably the most different in many aspects. ;) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Leave a review to let me know what you thought of the chapter or even about the story itself. Plus if you have an ideas or suggestions you'd like to see, or if you just have a question...don't feel shy, ask away. ^^ Until next time.


	25. India Wilderness part I

**Inverted Sky: Kingdom Hearts I  
**

Chapter 25: India Wilderness part I

Sora grinned widely as she held up the Pegasus Cup trophy over her head with both hands. Goofy and Donald being beside her with smiles of their own, to which the latter held the Phil Cup trophy in one of his hands. Each of the three having just gone through the two tournaments one after another and won both within only the span of an hour.

"Alright! We're the champs of two tournaments now!" the teen cheered out as she grinned even wider, to which the pair next to her nodded and let out their own cheer in agreement.

As the crowd around them finally started to calm down in chanting their names, the three made their way over to Phil off to the side. "See? I told you we were ready for it." the brown-haired girl said with a wink and thumbs up while holding the trophy with her other hand.

"I guess you were, sorry I ever underestimated ya." the satyr said with a small, yet rather proud smirk on his features.

Though, he soon gave a glance over to Donald and Goofy and placed either hand to his fur-covered hips. "Although yous two better pick up your training if you hope to keep goin' in these tournaments. She was practically carrying both of you out there during those last three matches." he continued with a very coach-like tone, making the former let out a huff and the latter to just sigh.

"Don't worry you guys...you'll both get better. I mean look at how much you've improved already." Sora said to them with a small smirk before she and Goofy handed the trophies to Phil, whom headed inside the waiting area.

"Speaking of training, I was a bit surprised you three suddenly showed up to train. It's only been three days since you were last here." the satyr muttered as the trio followed him.

Phil then going up to a series of pedestals that he gently placed the trophies onto. Yet none of the three recognized these before, which made them wonder if her possibly knew they would be coming back and made them ahead of time. Despite this however, Sora simply gave the satyr a small smile while she responded with a shrug. "Well...a lot has happened since then and I felt that I needed to build up my physical strength and stamina as much as I possibly could."

"So you told me, but I'm still curious as to what that power is you mentioned. I mean...what could drain you so much?" Phil asked with a slightly raised brow in question.

Sora just smiled a bit wider for a moment before glancing to the side and waving her hand dismissively. "I don't really want too many people to know about it...at least not yet." she muttered silently as she kept her gaze away from the satyr.

Whom raised his brow a bit higher, yet nodded in response all the same. "Well, whatever the case...I'll keep trainin' ya. You're definitely gonna make some amazing heroes." he stated, to which he gave the brown-haired girl a smirk and thumbs up.

The teen smiled back to him before turning to Hercules as he came walking over to each of them with a smile on his features. "You guys really put on an awesome show out there. Will you be staying for one more tournament? I'll be in that one too, so we could possibly fight against one another." he claimed while giving a curious gaze toward the three.

Sora let out a rather disappointed sigh, to which she then shook her head; "Unfortunately not...I need to get a move on to find Kairi and King...as well as to save as many worlds as I possibly can." she responded, causing Donald and Goofy to look to her with rather impressed gazes.

"But..." the teen started as she turned toward these two with a small smile.

"...since you two are still in the middle of training, you both could stay here for an extra day or so. I'll be alright on my own, so you won't have to worry about me and just focus on getting stronger." the blue-eyed girl continued as she winked at the pair.

"Gawrsh, I guess we could use a bit more practice and I really don't wanna be a burden for Sora." the dog said, him shrugging his shoulders while shifting his gaze toward Donald.

Whom had huffed silently, to which he seemed to mutter to himself how he wasn't going to be weak for long. Though, when he finally spoke a bit louder, it was in a more firm tone; "Fine...but you have to come right back if you find either of them...run into any trouble...or if you learn something important."

"Understood." Sora said as she giggled briefly to her friend's words.

The teen then gave a quick wave to everyone while heading toward the exit. "I'll be back tomorrow so train hard~!" she all but sang out with a wide smile.

As she exited the Coliseum, Sora quickly noticed Leon and Yuffie standing off to the side. "Hey you two~!" she called out quickly, her waving to them while walking closer.

"I'm pretty surprised you two were actually the previous champions of the Pegasus Cup." the brown-haired girl continued, tilting her head to the side midway through.

Yuffie simply took on a grin, while Leon simply remained his usual stoic self. "Well...we had participated two years ago just as a simple way to test our strength. But after a while, it became a tradition to defend our titles and continue improving." the man responded as he crossed his arms.

"Though...now that you've beaten us, it looks like it's time to quit." Yuffie muttered with a sigh and shrug of her shoulders.

"No." Leon suddenly began as he shook his head; "It's time for us to move further on with our own training and enter tougher tournaments to get even stronger." he continued in a firm tone while looking over to the raven-haired girl beside him.

"We never go backward...always forward." the man finished as he gave a glance over to Sora, it being clear that his words were also intended for her as well.

This making Yuffie and Sora glance to one another and chuckle lightly, to which they turned back to Leon. "Looks like he can say some pretty cool and inspirational stuff when he wants to, huh?" the former muttered with a small grin.

The brown-haired teen gained a similar expression on her features as she nodded in agreement. "Looks that way." she said silently, the two sharing another chuckle afterward.

All of this just made Leon huff lightly and turn to the side from his light embarrassment. Though, Sora eventually just patted him on the shoulder and smirked lightly; "Don't worry...I'll always move forward." she said with her signature grin.

Both Leon and Yuffie unconsciously smiled to this and nodded, to which they quickly waved as Sora then headed off on her way once more. The teen returning to the gummi ship and flew it into the space between the worlds. Yet while she piloted the vehicle, she eventually looked down to her hands on the steering controls. The girl's gaze appearing to be thoughtful and almost nervous as she didn't even blink for a few moments.

'I wonder if that training was really enough.' she thought silently to herself before finally looking through the window of the ship again.

'I mean...his training has already done wonders for me, so I guess this could sort of be a 'test run' to find out just how much it helped. As well as to see just what I can do by myself.' the teen mused as she glanced at the near emptiness around her.

'Though my magic has drastically increased, there is still the question of whether it'll be enough to handle what else is out there. My Curaga spell was able to return me almost completely back to normal after using my dark powers to such a huge extent. So...as long as I'm careful with my stamina, I should be able to wield those powers in nearly perfect unison.' Sora continued while slowly closing and opening her eyes.

"I just wonder if any of that 'hand-to-hand' combat stuff will really matter since I'm mainly a magic user." she muttered with a shrug of her shoulders.

"But I guess Phil did bring up a good point, that it's because magic-users don't practice such things, that it tends to be their downfall. So if I can perfect both sides...I should, in theory, be nearly unstoppable." the teen said silently as she took on a small, yet very excited grin.

However, after a few moments of flying, she noticed a world to her right. It looking very similar to the one she had met Tarzan and Jane, yet there were a few differences, even from such a distance. This lead for Sora to fly closer and closer to it, yet she soon looked to the side as something flew by her at great speed.

It being unrecognizable as it was shrouded in a thick dark energy as it plummeted down to the world below. The teen narrowed her eyes to this before immediately pursuing whatever it was as fast as the gummi ship could fly. Though after going through the cloudy atmosphere, Sora completely lost track of it and huffed in annoyance. This lead for her to then stop the ship over one of the clouds and simply teleport herself down to the surface.

Upon doing so, she glanced around with a raised brow as she was in the middle of a jungle. There not being any signs of people anywhere in sight, nor even any wild animals. However, she did notice differences in the plant-life compared to the previous worlds. Of which let her know that this was a very different forest than the ones she had visited previously.

"Hmm...for a jungle, it actually seems kind empty." she muttered silently while continuing to glance in each direction.

"Even Tarzan's world had animals almost everywhere you looked." she continued to herself, yet immediately turned to the side as she heard a sudden hissing voice from a nearby tree branch.

"Well...well...well, what do we have here?" was its obviously male tone.

Once Sora turned toward the source of this voice, she quickly raised a brow when seeing a large Indian python. "A man cub?" the snake continued while tilting its head to the side slightly.

The teen gazed to the serpent for a few moments before she then just shrugged her shoulders. "I guess?" was all she answered.

"Hmm...so what brings you out here, man cub?" he asked with a small smirk on his features, him drawing out each 's' in a true snake-like fashion.

"Something that fell from the sky." Sora responded while looking around for any sign of smoke or debris in the air to signify a large impact.

"Oh~? Would you happen to mean the thing that scared away the elephants?" the snake questioned as he stretched himself out to come closer to the girl.

Whom turned toward him once more and raised a brow; "And where might it have landed?" she inquired with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Who can say...but I do believe that we might be able to come to some sort of...agreement." the serpent said while his eyes started to ripple with different colors.

As Sora gazed into these strange eyes, her own started to do the same. However, this was quickly broken from a loud and rather desperate sounding, male voice echoing through the forest. "Bagheera~!"

Sora blinked to this for a moment before she quickly turned in the direction of the voice. "Hold that thought." she said, to which she turned back toward the snake as if she didn't even notice the hypnotism he was about to put her under.

"I'll be right back!" Sora called out as she immediately began running toward the sound of the distraught voice.

'I don't know what a 'Bagheera' is, but he sounded pretty distressed...who ever 'he' might be.' she thought while rushing on her way.

'It's probably not good of me to just come running every time I hear someone in trouble, especially when I was in the middle of a conversation.' the girl continued with a glance over her shoulder to the snake she left behind.

"Oops...I didn't even catch his name." Sora uttered out as a slightly embarrassed expression covered her features.

'But I guess I wouldn't be me if I didn't help people when they called.' the girl continued in her mind as a small smile curled her lips briefly.

Though she heard this same 'phrase' being called out two more times, Sora instantly stopped upon seeing a group of apes high up in the trees. Them swinging a young boy from one branch to the next, him having tan skin, black hair and only appeared to have on red wrappings for underwear.

'Is that boy being kidnapped by a bunch of monkeys?' she questioned to herself as the bizarre scene made her mentally pause.

Yet Sora then just shrugged briefly and chuckled; "Eh...I've seen weirder." was all she muttered before following after these apes.

However, it wasn't long until she had arrived in what appeared to be a long since abandoned city. It being made up of mostly off-white colored buildings, all of which had vines growing across and even through them. There were carvings upon the surfaces of these structures, some depicting animals, while others seemed to be the ancient language the people must have used. Of which caused Sora to blink a few times in response and tilt her head to the side upon seeing.

"Hmm...it looks like Tamil. I think I recall seeing these types of markings in Merlin's lessons about ancient civilizations." she whispered silently to herself, yet quickly shook her head from this.

"Aw man...I can't admit that his lessons actually came in handy. If I do...I'll never get to complain about his lessons ever again." the teen all but whined softly.

Though, as she made her way toward the gathering of apes, a large orangutan sitting in a throne caught her attention. Sora slowly raised a brow in question, though it only arched higher when he and the other apes broke out into a song. However, after just a few moments of listening to it, she ended up dancing, regardless of trying to resist. Despite also staying hidden the whole time, she didn't seem to care if she was discovered as the song itself was very catchy.

"You~...I wanna be like you~. I wanna talk like you~. Walk like you, too~." she sang out silently with a small grin as she continued to move in beat.

But, this would only last a few more moments before the music the apes were making came to a sudden stop. To which Sora immediately noticed a large grey bear and black panther in the middle of the fray. Both of whom were rushing around the city trying to get the young boy from the apes, with varying levels of success.

Once Sora came out of hiding, she quickly rushed forward and pulled the boy by the hand. Her doing this just after the ape holding him dodged a swipe from the panther. As soon as she did this, all of the apes stopped and looked at this new person. Whom let the boy go and smirked lightly while summoning her Keyblade; "Alright boys...that was a fun musical number, but the party's over." the teen stated as she tapped the ground to her side with the tip of her weapon.

This creating a half circle of fire to separate her from each of the apes, yet she made sure that she didn't make the fire too big. Of which allowed it to extinguish within a moments, though it was still long enough for Sora to vanish with the boy in tow. Yet the orangutan had managed to get a large stick and set it ablaze before it the flames died. "We have fire~!" he called out to each of the apes, all of whom hooted out loudly in approval.

A few dozen meters away from all this, Sora released the boy once more as he just seemed to be in a state of shock the whole time. Him merely staring at the girl the whole time she was rescuing him, despite everything happening quite fast. Though as he gazed to her, the teen merely blinked a few times since his stare of confusion and interest made it obvious he had never seen another human before.

"Looks like you had quite an interesting time, huh?" Sora questioned to him as the boy just blinked back at her.

"W-Who are you? Are you from the man village?" he finally asked with a tilt of his head in question.

"Hmm? Well, I'm Sora. And no...I'm not from 'the man village'." the teen responded, her shrugging briefly at the end.

"So what what about you? What's your name?" she inquired back to him with a raised brow.

"Mowgli!" a male voice yelled out as the panther and bear quickly rushed over to the teen girl and the younger boy.

"Baloo! Bagheera!" the youthful male called to the pair, him looking at each one while saying their name.

This allowing Sora to tell which name fit the right animal, to which she made a mental note of remembering the pronunciation for their names. "Oh...so you know these two, huh?" Sora muttered silently while looking over to Mowgli.

"There is another man-cub in the jungle?" the panther said silently as he sniffed the air around the teen.

"A female no less." he continued as the brown-haired girl just shrugged lightly, her wondering what sort of situation was going on before she arrived.

"Well, I just came here looking for something..." she started while glancing to the side; "...though I kinda lost track of it."

"Yeah...that happens to me from time to time too." the bear said with a small smirk and brief chuckle.

Yet as Sora looked back to each of them, she noticed the panther Bagheera appeared to be in deep thought about something. All the while, Mowgli just seemed to stare at the teen in confusion, and Baloo the bear merely smirked to her.

"This is perfect actually." the black cat spoke up quickly as he took a few steps closer toward Sora.

"Please...convince Mowgli to return to the man-village with you. If you do, then I can promise to help you find whatever it was that you were looking for." he continued as he gave a brief gesture to the young boy with his head.

The brown-haired girl looked to him with a raised brow and a tilt of her head; "Why doesn't he want to go?" she asked with a bit of a confused gaze.

Though she had yet to piece together everything that was going on, she did appear to understand the current pieces to some degree. But it was Bagheera's next words that made the picture rather clear of what was happening. "Because, he loves the jungle. He was raised here for his entire life after all. But Shere Khan the tiger has returned and due to his hatred toward man, he'll surely kill Mowgli on sight."

The teen looked down for a moment as she thought this over; "Hmm...you definitely have a point there." she began silently while tapping her chin.

"Although, I could simply get rid of Shere Khan myself. Which would mean that Mowgli wouldn't have to leave." she continued as each of them blinked at her.

"Though, I think I have an idea of how to get him to the 'man village' regardless." Sora whispered to Bagheera with a quick wink and grin at the end.

"A-Are you mad?! You can't possibly defeat Shere Khan! Not without a gun or fir-!" the panther started, yet stopped himself as he glanced over his shoulder while recalling what the teen had done moments ago.

"Actually...it just might work." he finished silently while tilting his head down in thought.

"So wait...I can stay in the jungle?" Mowgli questioned with blinking eyes in excitement.

"You just might kid...you just might." Sora said to him, her gaining a small, yet confident smirk on her features.

'I just hope that I can figure out what that thing was that landed here before me. Though I am worried of what it could be...I wanna at least help them out as best I can. It's what Kairi would want me to do after all.' she thought silently to herself while glancing to the side with a soft smile.


	26. India Wilderness part II

**Inverted Sky: Kingdom Hearts I**

Chapter 26: India Wilderness part II

As the brown-haired teen stood in the middle of a large field, she looked to Mowgli beside her with a slow nod of her head. She then shifted her gaze to the side as Baloo and Bagheera were hiding downwind in the brush. Sora let out a silent breath and glanced around as if to make sure no one else was around. The sun's rays beamed down harshly on the pair as they seemed to just be waiting for someone or something.

'If these are his usual hunting grounds in this part of the jungle, it stands to reason that he would be coming through here most often. Which means that it should only take a little bit of encouragement for him to come rushing out to 'greet' us.' she thought to herself with a light smirk curling her lips.

"Oh boy…I'm feeling really dizzy from all this heat!" she called out as if to try and entice Shere Khan to come out.

"Are you really?" Mowgli questioned, him blinking his eyes to the girl.

"No...but he should be able to hear us and come out. So play along." Sora whispered back, to which she placed a hand to the side of her mouth in order to increase the noise of her next words.

"Sure would be awful if something suddenly came out and attacked us!" the teen continued while waving her other hand to gain more attention.

"Yeah! I sure hope no big dumb predators try and eat us!" the boy yelled, him placing both hands around his mouth to increase the volume of his voice.

"Oh no, the sun is in my eyes~! This is the worst~!" she nearly whined out, yet is seemed as if her 'acting' was getting more and more over the top.

Yet even after this, there was so sign of the tiger anywhere, causing Sora to growl silently in response. "Would you get out here already you stupid cat!" the teen yelled as she stomped her foot on the ground a few times.

Mowgli blinked to this a few times, yet he sighed heavily as he was also starting to get tired of waiting. Of which lasted for a solid twenty minutes as no activity was hear or seen anywhere in the jungle around them. During this time however, the two just continued to call out more and more insults toward Shere Khan.

'Ugh…I usually love cats, but I'm really not fond of this one.' the brown-haired girl thought to herself with a huff after all this waiting.

"Oh dear…a pair young man-cubs asking for my attention." a deep voice suddenly spoke up from behind the pair, to which they turned around quickly to face the owner of the voice.

"About time you showed up." Sora claimed while huffing a bit more and even pointing at the tiger in front of her in an accusing manner.

"Do you realize how long we've been waiting?" she continued in an obviously annoyed groan.

Though Shere Khan raised a brow to this for a moment, he soon chuckled lightly. "My my, you seem quite casual when standing right in front of me, man-cub." he said, slowly circling to two.

"And more strange still...you seem to know exactly who I am and that we're in my favorite hunting ground. So I suppose it's safe to say that you merely have a death wish and desire the honor of offering your lives to me?" the tiger asked, him pausing in his steps when directly facing Sora once more.

"Fat chance." was all Mowgli responded with as he brought up a fist without any fear of the large cat.

This making Shere Khan raise his brow a bit higher in question, to which he looked between the two humans. "Is that so? Well it's quite a relief then." he began silently while closing his eyes.

"I do love the thrill of the chase after all." the tiger finished, snapping his eyes open to reveal slit-shaped pupils.

After seeing this Mowgli shifted back in obvious fear, to which he gulped down nervously. Him even hiding slightly behind Sora as the teen stood firm and completely unafraid. "Oh really? Then I sure hope that the rumors of you being a scaredy cat who runs at the first sign of fire." she stated confidently as she summoned her Keyblade.

Her words and actions making the tiger look at her with a heavy glare, yet there was still a small sign of nervousness in his eyes. Though he soon growled silently and took a step forward; "So, you've heard about my incident with Man's fire, have you? Well...even if you prepared such a thing…" he started, to which he gained a small smirk and crouched down slightly.

"…I won't give you the chance!" Shere Khan finished, immediately leaping toward Mowgli as if knowing he was the most defenseless.

However, said boy was already pulled out of the tiger's range by a quick flash of black fur. Bagheera having rushed up downwind of Shere Khan to get Mowgli away at just the right moment, as planned. Sora smirked to this as the stripped cat was caught in a brief state of shock from this interference. Of which allowed the brown-haired teen to slash her weapon across her opponent's side and knock him a few meters away.

Though Shere Khan winced from the impact, it still wasn't enough to deter him from lashing out with a flurry of claw slashes. Yet Sora simply smirked confidently as the large cat's attacks simply bounced off of the Reflega spell surrounding her. This making the tiger's eyes widen in response, to which he let out a roar in frustration and slashed many more times at the girl. Each strike continuing to be reflected away from his target, there being actual scratch marks seen across the barrier from his attacks.

Once Shere Khan made his eighth swipe, the Reflega spell finally disbursed. However, as it did, many orbs of light sparkled around Sora and hit the tiger head on as he lunged forward. This instantly knocking him back, yet he still managed to land on his feet as Sora slowly walked toward him. "So…do you think I should bring the fire out now? Or later?" she questioned, her tone sounding rather playful, but also somewhat mocking at the same time.

"Then again…I don't think I need the fire to beat you." Sora continued, shrugging her shoulders briefly with a small smirk.

Shere Khan immediately began growling angrily to this as he stepped toward the teen once more. He then crouched slightly and bared his teeth; "I'll make sure to kill you slowly." the tiger spoke out, his voice seeming to hold every ounce of rage he held within him.

"Come and try." was all Sora said before Shere Khan lunged toward her once more.

Yet before he reached her, he landed on the ground and quickly circled the teen. This leading for said girl to raise a brow as she turned the opposite way, to which she then jumped into the air. Which allowed for the tiger's swipe toward her feet to go right under her and gave Sora the time to hit him on the top of the head with her weapon.

Though this didn't knock Shere Khan out, it did knock him down and caused him to groan in pain. But the moment Sora's feet touched the ground, she immediately jumped back up as the tiger make a quick swipe toward her knees. Despite flipping over her opponent, the teen held a hand out toward him and allowed a burst of electricity to fly from her pointer and middle fingers.

Once the magic hit its target, the large cat let out a roaring yelp as he jumped back and away from the girl. All of which, just made Sora chuckle lightly as she tried to keep herself from smiling too much. "That looked like a house cat getting zapped by an electric shock." she muttered to herself, to which she then cleared her throat as if to try and get serious again.

Alright..." the teen began, gazing to her opponent while trying not to look at how the fur on the tigers tail was all puffed out.

Sora being of the verge of laughing at the sight of this as she spoke up; "...I think I've had my fun." she continued, her briefly using a hand to hide the amused smile spreading on her features.

"It's time that I finish this." Sora finished silently with another clearing of her throat, to which her whole body took on a fiery red aura.

Despite not comprehending magic, the tiger seemed to quickly understand what was going to happen. Of which lead for him to immediately start running away, it becoming very clear to him that for some strange reason, he couldn't defeat this 'man cub'. Once he was out of sight, Sora just raised brow and huffing lightly in disappointment. "Well that was rude." she muttered silently while dismissing her Keyblade.

"But I suppose he figured out that he wasn't gonna win anyway." the teen continued as she slowly turned to the side.

Mowgli, Bagheera and Baloo rushed out of the jungle, to which they went right up to Sora. "I can't believe it! You actually beat Shere Khan! And you never even used fire!" the panther exclaimed in shock.

"I gotta say kid, I'm seriously impressed. I'm not even sure how ya did it, but you made it through without a scratch. Nice goin'." the bear added with a small grin on his features.

"Say...can all people of the man village do the kind of things you just did?" Mowgli questioned, him obviously being interested in possibly learning such things.

Sora blinked to him a few times before smirking softly; "Well, why don't you go there and find out for yourself? You've already come this far, so why not just check it out anyway? It'll just be another part of your adventure, right?" she said with a slightly wider smirk as Bagheera seemed to be the only one to catch on to her plan.

While the young boy blinked a few times to her, he slowly tilted his head up in thought. "I suppose it would be worth seeing it for myself." he said while shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, lets just make sure to head back to our part of the jungle before sun down." Baloo began as he gestured to the side in order to further his words.

"Right." Mowgli uttered with a nod, though he then looked over to Sora.

"Thank you again Sora. Now I'm free to stay in the jungle." he said as the girl simply smirked and waved a hand to him.

"No problem at all." she said, to which she slowly gave a smile toward the boy.

After this exchange, both Baloo and Mowgli headed off toward the man-village, while Bagheera stayed behind with Sora. "I'm very grateful for your help. I doubt Shere Khan will be returning to this part of the jungle for quite some time." he spoke out with a small smile.

The brown-haired girl simply returned this expression while nodding her head to him. "It was no problem at all." she claimed with a thumbs up.

"I wish you luck on your travels, Sora. I hope our paths cross again." Bagheera said, to which the pair shared a nod before the panther followed after Baloo and Mowgli.

The teen smiled softly and waved to the large cat as he trotted off, to which she let out a silent breath. "It's good to be helping those in need." she whispered softly to herself.

However, her eyes quickly widened as a familiar voice spoke up from a few meters behind her. "Does it now?"

Immediately after she spun around and summoned her Keyblade, Sora laid eyes on the same cloaked figure she saw back in the cave on Destiny Islands. "You..." she muttered out, her eyes narrowing heavily on him.

"So the chosen one of the Dark Keyblade...how fairs your quest in 'seeing every world out there and learning all there is to know'?" he questioned in his silent tone, yet it still sounded mocking while nearly repeating the girl's words to him.

Sora clenched her teeth together after this, to which she took on a fighting stance. "Hmph...this is only the seventh world I've been to, and I've already learned plenty." she stated firmly as she inched a bit closer to the figure, whom was still about three meters away.

"You're too young and naive. You'll never be able to learn what secrets lie within each world you see." he retorted, though it was obvious from his tone, there was more he had to say.

"Of course, if it is knowledge that you seek...then I can be of help to you." were his further words, making Sora raise a brow in question.

"All you must do is give yourself to the darkness and I will give you any and all knowledge you desire. Including how to find and save Kairi." he finished, his tone making it sound as if he could be smiling under the hood.

The teen stared at him in a bit of shock for a moment before looking down at the ground, as though she was considering this offer. Yet she soon chuckled and looked back to the hooded figure; "Yeah right...as if I'm 'that' gullible'." she responded with a smirk curling her lips.

"I'll find and save Kairi without you." the teen finished in a firm tone as she smirked a bit wider.

"Hmph...such a foolish child. If you would have accepted my offer, you would never have to realize just how frightening the darkness truly is." he said as a swirl of black energy began to surround him, to which he simply vanished within it.

Sora blinked to this for a moment as the darkness disappeared along with him, to which her eyes narrowed once more. 'If 'that's' how he got here...then whatever it was that came here with me, wasn't him. So there is still something else out there, but I have a feeling it was him that called it here.' she contemplated, a brief chill running up her spine soon afterward.


	27. India Wilderness part III

**Inverted Sky: Kingdom Hearts I**

Chapter 27: India Wilderness part III

Sora stood in front of a nearby tree with her arms crossed, she slowly raised brow and tilted her head curiously to the side. There being a large snake hanging from the lowest branch as it kept trying to look at her directly in the eyes. "For the last time...I don't want to hear a song, I just want to know where that thing fell out of the sky." she claimed in a light huff, her having found the snake from before mere moments after parting ways with Bagheera.

"I can cccccertainly show you were it landed. But perhapsssss...you would like to join me for a little talk firssssst?" the serpent hissed out.

"Sorry...but I'm actually in a bit of a hurry, there is no tell what that thing will do. Especially if the guy I just saw was the one whom brought it here." Sora responded quickly while glancing around just as the snake's eyes rippled different colors.

But he seemed to 'miss' as the teen wasn't paying enough attention to him, to which he let out a light hiss of annoyance. "Sssssince you're sssso inssssssissstant, I did ssssssee something fall from the ssssky a while ago. It wasss black and sssssseemed to be on fire." the python claimed, to which the teen turned to him fully with blinking eyes.

"Where?" was all she questioned, yet the snake quickly took this time to look at her with his rippling eyes.

However, unlike before, Sora seemed too focused on her mission to fall into the serpent's hypnosis as her eyes remained unchanged. This made the snake hiss out in confusion now, yet he appeared to quickly understand he wouldn't be getting this 'meal' very easily as he arched his head back. "In the field you were just fighting Shere Khan in as a matter a fact." he responded silently, making the girl's eyes widen in shock.

She then turned quickly to the wide open meadow to her side, the tree the python was hanging in being on the edge of it. Though as Sora narrowed her gaze, nothing but a gust of wind had changed the scenery. The tall grass swaying as a few birds took flight, yet there was no sign that anything had crashed into the ground. This lack of evidence making the brown-haired teen all the more on edge, her slowly moving back into the field.

All the while, the snake slithered to a tree further away, him giving up on his meal and moving on. Yet as Sora moved through the grass, she could feel a much different atmosphere in the area around her. It being as if the normal heat of the day was immediately replaced by a strong chill, which ran up the girl's spine while she slowly paced through the meadow. 'It was waiting for me to find out about it. Or maybe 'he's' controlling it and wanted to wait till I figured out where it was before sending it after me.' she thought quickly to herself as she scanned the area with heavily narrowed eyes.

'I think they called it a 'fear tactic' in the movies.' the teen finished, immediately before taking a step and breaking a small branch under her foot.

The very instant this happened, Sora was immediately hit by something moving too fast for her eyes to see. The teen having the air knocked out of her upon impact, to which she gasped for oxygen while tumbling to the ground. Though, she quickly jumped back to her feet and summoned her Keyblade.

"What in the..heck..was that?" she gasped out as her eyes shifted from side to side in search for whatever it was that struck her.

However, there wasn't anything in sight, leading for her to then move back toward the forest and press her back against a tree. 'This should limit the directions it can come to attack me.' she thought quickly while bringing up a Reflega spell up preemptively.

But within seconds, the tree behind her was sliced in half just a few inches above her head. Sora feeling some of her hair being cut away as she quickly rolled to the side and out of the way from the falling sapling. Though the attack came from the other side of the tree, her roll allowed the girl to catch a brief glimpse of the figure that attacked her.

'It definitely looks like a Heartless, but it looked like it was split in two...or it was riding atop of something.' she thought quickly as she readied her Keyblade to possibly make a counter strike.

'I need another look.' Sora continued as he eyes narrowed while continuing to scan the area.

Though she wouldn't have long to wait as the figure came hurling toward her at great speed. But while she finally got a good look of her attacker, she immediately jumped to the side and slashed at the Heartless. Yet not only did her attack miss completely, but her barrier was shattered instantly by the creature as it sped by.

This lead for Sora to grind her teeth lightly while watching her opponent's leaving form. It looking like a normal appearing Heartless had sunk all but it's upper body into what seemed to be a black-furred tiger with white stripes. The strange hybrid also having a dark aura surrounding it in the form of black wisps emanating from its back. But more strange still was the fact that the tiger part looked just like Shere Khan, yet didn't appear to be in control of his actions at all.

'This thing is literally possessing him. And among other things, it's enhancing Shere Khan's power and speed to levels that even I can't keep up with.' she thought quickly, just as the creature appeared in front of her.

Of which showed both sets of glowing yellow eyes as they gazed at her in unison, it being as if it was merely one being instead of two. Though, when gazing at the face of Shere Khan, it was clear that there was nothing but rage radiating from him. 'It must have been drawn to his anger from losing to me. But that means it didn't attack until now because there wasn't a suitable 'host'.' Sora mused as her eyes narrowed heavily on the Heartless.

'Which means that I let this happen...so I should fix it.' she continued while moving into a more defensive stance with her weapon at the ready.

'I have to come up with a way to either speed myself up...or slow him down. And while I should be able to speed up with my magic, I have no real way of slowing him down without doing the same to myself. Plus, I don't know how long I'll be able to keep it up any sort of speed increase I give myself, especially considering just how much faster he is than I am right now. I need to choose the right time to use it, otherwise my stamina will run out before his does.' the teen finished, yet immediately jumped backward as her attacker leapt forward with a slashing paw.

Despite blocking this strike with her Keyblade, the teen was still sent backward almost ten yards. However, she used this momentum to flip backward when her feet touches the ground, which allowed her to avoid the follow up bite Shere Khan attempted. Meanwhile, Sora brought up another Reflega barrier as she came to a sliding stop. Once she had, the girl quickly shifted her gaze to the side as the large cat was moving around her in circles.

It being clear that he was now toying with his prey, whom could only see a brief hint of him before he just disappeared from sight. Though, even with this, Sora could tell that the circles the tiger was making around her were becoming smaller by each passing. By the seventh circle, the teen's opponent was half a meter away from her as he slashed with one of his large paws. Each claw barely missing Sora's face as she tilted her upper body backward in order to avoid the attack as it immediately broke through her barrier.

Upon doing so, the brown-haired girl just watched as the resulting explosion of magic missed their target as he moved just far enough away from it. But even after coming back for another assault, Shere Khan never even got the chance to do one as his opponent was no longer there. This forced him to stop and look around briefly in order to find Sora once more, yet couldn't seem to do so.

Said teen being behind a tree on the opposite side of the field, her having used her magic to move herself far enough away to get a moment to think and plan. 'Guess I don't have much choice now. He's going to beat me at this rate and I haven't even been able to make a single counter attack.' she thought to herself quickly, to which a great amount of electrical magic began to surround the teen's body.

'I'll just have to hope I'll manage something while fighting.' Sora continued as even her eyes began to glow yellow from her magical power.

"And also hope I can keep up with my own speed." the girl added aloud before vanishing in a flash of electrical energy.

Sora almost seeming to appear near of Shere Khan as he turned toward the sound of her voice. Which despite being rather silent, was still loud enough for his enhanced hearing to pick up. Though, it wasn't quite quickly enough for him to dodge her slashing attack as she had started it halfway through the field. However, it was because of this that the impact was only enough to knock the tiger slightly off balance.

The teen not being able to attack properly as she could even keep up with her own speed. This lead for Shere Khan to immediately turn toward her and give chase as the teen had yet to stop. 'That attack was way too sloppy, he definitely knows that I can't fight properly. I might have similar speed, but I haven't adapted to it yet. And he's most certainly going to use that to his advantage.' the girl mused, yet is was more of a brief understanding of these thoughts than actually thinking them.

Sora quickly looking to the side as she noticed Shere Khan right next to her, him moving closer and closer before slashing at her. Yet the teen simply stopped her momentum, forcing the large cat to go zooming past her and crash into a great many trees. Despite this, the tiger completely unharmed as he also stopped and turned around to face where the teen had once been. Her now rushing up to attack her opponent with a thrust of her Keyblade as she kept both hands on the weapon.

It looking as if her strike might in fact hit as the tiger didn't appear ready to move. But at the last second, Shere Khan actually ducked under the blade before rising up to hit her in the stomach with his head. This knocking the air from her lungs as she gasped for a breath, yet it would come to late as the large cat moved swiftly to her side and hit the girl across the face with a paw. Sora was sent spinning to the side with a trail of her magic being left behind, all of it diminishing now that she lost focus.

Upon tumbling to the ground and continuing to gasp for air, Sora slowly pushed herself up to look at her opponent. "D-Damn..." she whispered in a growl, her vision was slowly fading from the sheer impact of the attacks she endured.

'Looks like I never even stood a chance...even after all my training.' the girl thought in another fleeting idea.

"I can't win." Sora muttered, her just watching in a light daze as Shere Khan lunged toward her with a gaping maw filled with sharp teeth.

'I'm so sorry Kairi, I couldn't keep my promise...again.' where her last thoughts before losing consciousness.

"Sora!"

Said teen's eyes quickly snapped open as she heard her friend's voice, to which she looked out in front of her. Once she had, her eyes widened greatly as she saw Kairi standing between her and the attacking tiger. The younger girl having her arms stretched out to either side as if to show her defense toward the brown-haired teen. Whom blinked many times in response to seeing Shere Khan being knocked back by a burst of light from Kairi herself.

Though as the auburn-haired girl turned to face her friend, she just smiled softly and vanished slowly as if she were a ghost. "Kairi!" Sora called out as she quickly stood up and reached out to her friend.

Yet the girl was gone before she could make physical contact, to which she looked down and placed a hand over her heart. 'Could you really be...' she thought silently while closing her eyes.

But she soon snapped them open and looked to her opponent once more; "I hear you Kairi. We're not about to let our adventure to be stopped by something like this. I'm not going to get beat!" she declared as a dark aura surrounded her.

"I had it wrong...I shouldn't be trying to keep up with you. I should just present a situation where speed has no effect by hit everything all at once." Sora continued with a small smirk as her eyes gained a golden color.

'I'm sorry if my darkness hurt you before Kairi...I'll make sure to keep it away from your heart.' the brown-haired teen thought quickly as she remained crouched on the ground and flipped her Keyblade in a reverse grip.

"Come at me." was all she said just as Shere Khan vanished, to which he appeared behind Sora with out stretched claws and an open jaw once more.

However, at the same time he did this, the teen hit the tip of her weapon into the ground. This creating an enormous blast of dark power that was sent out in every direction and hit the tiger before he could get to her. Though within seconds of impact, the darkness around the large cat vanished and revealed the normal tiger once more. All the while, the Heartless was knocked back and away from the teen as the black power expanded out twenty meters in each direction.

Once it had died down, Sora glanced around the now very barren area and let out a heavy sigh. She then took notice of Shere Khan laying unconscious to the side, to which she glanced around the area for the Heartless. But no matter where she looked, she couldn't find it at all. "Maybe I actually beat it with my attack just now?" she questioned silently with blinking eyes before looking to her Keyblade.

"I guess it really only had enhanced speed and strength while leaving its durability at a bare minimum." the girl muttered, to which she continued to look around for the Heartless.

'Though...considering that I feel just fine after using so much dark power, maybe all that training did pay off." she finished, a small smile on her features.

Yet within seconds of finishing these words, the Heartless suddenly emerged from the teens shadow and lunged toward her. Though rather than attacking her, it seemed be absorbed into Sora's body. This making her eyes widen in shock, yet her shock turned to horror as she felt her consciousness quickly fading. Of which caused her to drop her Keyblade on the ground and bring her hands to either side of her head.

'NO! Oh crap! This is bad! I have to fight it! I can't let this thing control me!' she screamed in her mind as her body fell to its kneels.

The teen closed her eyes tightly as she ground her teeth together, all the while falling forward onto her hands as they curled into fists. 'I can do this...just think about Kairi...think about Riku...think about Donald and Goofy!' she called out inwardly in desperation, the girl feeling as if her body was going numb.

However, during all of these thoughts, a large black aura began to surround her body and change the teen's skin to black. Yet as it began to spread toward her face, images of Sora's friends and family flashed in her mind. All the while, the girl actually began floating into the air, both her body and mind becoming weaker by the second. This making it clear to her that she couldn't escape, the images becoming more and more blurry.

But once Kairi was the only one remaining in her mind, said girl gave a hopeful smile toward Sora. Though as the girl began to be consumed by darkness, the brown-haired girl slowly took on a small smile as well. This making her descend back to the ground and allowed the teen to pick up her Keyblade.

"Don't worry Kairi...I'm not going down like this." she began while remaining on her feet, albeit a bit wobbly.

"If I'm really the chosen wielder of the Keyblade for the Realm of Darkness, then I'm not going to lose to this thing." Sora claimed as her eyes snapped open, them having a golden glow rather than just the normal change in color.

Immediately following her words, the darkness began to sink back into her skin. Of which was turning back to its normal lightly tanned tone, to which the Heartless then attempted to leave her body by pushing itself away from the girl's back. "Oh no you don't." the teen whispered with a wider smirk on her features.

"You're not going anywhere." she continued as the Heartless was quickly being absorbed into Sora as her eyes glowed a bit brighter for a brief second.

"I'm not going to let you escape, so if you're gonna be apart of anyone's body...it'll be mine." the brown-haired girl claimed firmly, to which the Heartless fully disappeared as it was fully absorbed.

After this, Sora chuckled softly before halfway falling, halfway sitting down on the ground. The girl then dismissed her weapon and let out a heavy sigh; "Well...that was an ordeal." she muttered silently while closing her eyes.

Upon slowly opening them once more, they were back to their normal color. The only indications that anything had happened were the bruises developing on her face and the scorched ground she was sitting in the middle of. "Boy...it's been a long day." Sora heaved out in a tone of exhaustion.

"I'm totally taking a vacation once all this is over." she continued, her looking up in thought as she kept a small smile upon her features.

"A couple weeks should do." the teen muttered with another light chuckle before slowly standing up.

'But first...I think it's time to find this world's keyhole and get out of here.' she thought while glancing from side to side.

'If I was to guess...I'd say that it's probably in that ancient city those apes were in.' the brown-haired girl continued in her mind while starting to walk out of the crater.

This lead for her to glance over to the still unconscious Shere Khan, to which she merely shrugged. "I'm sure he'll leave once he wakes up. I doubt he'll stick around after everything." she whispered to herself as she continued on her way.

However, after just a few more steps, she suddenly heard the hooded man's voice from behind her. "Perfect."

Yet the moment she turned around with her Keyblade resummoned in her hand, there was no one there. Sora narrowed her eyes heavily to this as she looked from side to side and even behind her, but there was no one to be seen. "Tch! He never really left...he was watching the whole time." she muttered quietly as she continued to look around for the man.

Though after a few moments of neither seeing or sensing him, the teen gave up in believing he was still around. This lead for her to make her way over toward the ancient city once again, where the apes were building fires on the tops of every building. Of which made her raise a brow in question for a moment before shrugging in response and began her search for the keyhole.

Despite looking for well over two hours, Sora had yet to find anything, to which she groaned silently. "Ugh...I'm really gonna need some sleep after this." she muttered with great irritation being clear in her voice.

Not long after her comment however, she felt a nudge against her hand. This causing her to yelp loudly and jump to the side while looking at the large black cat that rubbed his head against her fingers. "My apologies, I was merely trying to get your attention since you didn't respond when I called your name." Bagheera said as he blinked his eyes at the 'man-cub's' reaction.

Sora blinked for a few moments as well before clearing her throat and looking to the side, a deep blush being visible on her features. "D-Don't worry about it...I was just in deep thought." she stuttered out quickly, to which she then turned to the panther when he spoke once more.

"Right...well, I wanted to let you know that Mowgli has indeed decided to stay in the man-village. After a little extra encouragement from a local girl." he said with a light chuckle and shrug.

"And since you've done so much for us and the jungle, I wish to help you any way I can." the large cat continued with a small smile on his features.

The brown-haired teen looked to him with a blinking gaze again before smiling lightly; "Thank you, I appreciate your help." she began, her then explaining what it was that she was looking for.

Bagheera blinked to her as he had no idea what a keyhole looked like, but after the teen drew one on the floor, he tilted his head to the side curiously. "Actually...I believe I've come across this shape not long ago in the jungle." he claimed, to which Sora blinked many times to him.

"Really? Can you take me there?" she asked quickly as a smile curled her lips.

Upon giving a nod of agreement, Bagheera lead Sora deep into the jungle. Them going on for about a half hour before they came upon a large, white-colored rock that had a near cone shape. It being rather rounded and had many leaves covering the top, yet it was the large keyhole in the center of the smallest end. This made Sora smile even wider as she brought her Keyblade out and pointed it toward the keyhole. Immediately following this, a beam of light flew from the weapon's tip and into the hole.

Seconds later, a locking sound was heard before the keyhole disappeared from sight and allowed the teen to dismiss her Keyblade. "Thank you for your help Bagheera." she muttered while turning to said panther.

"It was no problem at all Sora. It's the least I could do in return for all that you've done." he responded with a small smile of his own.

"Well...that was also the least I could do." Sora said as she smiled back to him, her giving a thumbs up before slowly tilting her head down.

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to return here again...but I'll always remember you, and of course Baloo and Mowgli." she continued, to which she gave a wider smile to the large cat.

Whom blinked to her for briefly before nodding his head in response; "Ah...I will never forget you either, Sora...the savior of the jungle." Bagheera said as he actually gave a bow to the teen.

This time it was the brown-haired girl's turn to blink, yet she then smiled softly to him just as she was teleported up to the Gummi ship. The panther never seeing this as he still had his head bowed, to which he glanced around in shock when Sora just seemed to vanish. Yet said girl looked down to him from high above while keeping a smile on her features.

"I hope I get to see this world again." she whispered silently before she flew off and away from the world.


	28. Monstro part I

Alright, just to give a fair warning, this world and the next one will be rather short. This one is simply because didn't actually have much to it in terms of story during the game. While the next one is another added world that also won't have too much to it...however, it will be very important to how things progress. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy. ^^

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 28: Monstro part I

"I can't believe you actually found a world with no Heartless." Goofy muttered as he sounded quite surprised, yet relieved by this.

"I can't believe you gave fire to a bunch of apes." Donald commented while sweat dropping heavily to the teen.

"I just can't believe you not only beat Herc...but also practically mastered the Ars Arcanum in just one day." Phil muttered, him having a tone of disbelief as he placed Sora's new trophy on the pedestal with the others.

"I've been perfecting that move for years now, and I only started teaching it to Herc just recently." he continued before looking to Sora with blinking eyes.

"How in the world did you get so strong?" the satyr questioned as he seemed genuinely interested.

The brown-haired teen simply waved a hand to him while smiling lightly; "It's just a talent I suppose. But I'm not all 'that' strong, I lack in experience after all. So I still need all the training I can get." she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Hmm...well...I guess your technique could be better." Phil said as he gave his own shrug while stroking his beard lightly.

Sora quickly smiled wider to his words and nodded her head in response; "I'll continue trying my best~!" she claimed with a fist held out in order to further gesture her conviction.

The satyr smirked briefly before looking over to Hercules as he came walking over with a bandage around his hand and right arm. "That was a heck of a fight Sora, I'm really glad that we got to go one-on-one during that last tournament." he said while smiling to the teen.

Whom grinned back to him, to which she gave Hercules a thumbs up; "So am I...but how about a rematch once we're both even stronger?" she asked with a slight tilt of her head.

Hercules quickly nodded in response as his smile widened; "I'd love to have a rematch, lets both give our best in training in the mean time." he said, which lead for Sora to nod back to him.

"Sounds good to me." the brown-haired girl said, to which Donald and Goofy soon said their farewells and headed outside to return to their ship.

However, upon reaching the exit of the coliseum, they quickly saw Hades standing there. Him seeming to be waiting for them as he soon grinned upon seeing the three. "And here they are, the new Champions of the Coliseum. Congrats kids, it looks like you've really moved up since the first day you joined." the blue-skinned man said while looked between each of the trio.

"Ah! You're that Hades guy!" Sora exclaimed in surprise, yet just as the lord of the dead nodded his head, she was already in front of him.

"I was actually hoping to ask you something from the last time we were here." she continued, to which Hades blinked a few times and raised a brow.

"And what would that be?" he questioned with a hint of suspicion in his voice as he wasn't sure if she had been told about who he was.

"I wanted to know if you would be willing to teach me some fire magic." the teen finished as her eyes all but sparkled in excitement.

Hades continued to keep his brow raised for a few moments, yet he soon blinked many times and took a step back in surprise. "Wait...what?!" he all but demanded, him not expecting such a request whatsoever.

Though as he opened his mouth to speak, he soon closed it and looked up in thought while tapping his chin with a finger. "Hmm...it just might work out." Hades muttered silently to himself as a small smirk curled his lips.

"Sure...I'll teach ya some of my fire moves kid." he continued, to which Sora smiled widely.

"However..." the blue-skinned man began while raising a finger up to make a further point; "...you'll have to participate in the 'Hades Cup' and beat me in the finals."

The teen blinked a few times in question to this as she tilted her head to the side; "The 'Hades Cup'?" she echoed back for a moment as she briefly glanced to the entrance of the coliseum.

"You mean there is something beyond the 'Hercules Cup'?" Sora asked further, her continuing to blink her eyes many more times.

"Of course! There are still plenty of other tournaments left for you to compete in. Granted...mine will be added to the list in a couple of days, so that should give you plenty of time to get yourself ready for it, right?" Hades responded as he widened his smirk toward the girl.

Whom raised a brow briefly before nodding her head; "Sounds good by me! Be ready to teach me those fire moves of yours!" Sora claimed with her excitement evident in her voice.

"You got it kid." he said, to which he then waved to the trio as they left the area and returned to their ship.

"Ha...suckers, they don't stand a chance." the God of the Underworld muttered silently to himself before vanishing in a cloud of smoke.

All the while, as the three flew on in the Gummi ship, they flew past a few worlds that they had already been to. Yet along the way, Sora glanced to each of them with a small smirk as she recalled the events that happened on every one.

"I guess we should head over to Traverse Town to check on things there." Donald muttered silently as he continued to fly the ship through space.

"Right...plus we should see if Leon has seen The King or Kairi." Goofy added with a nod of his head.

The brown-haired girl glanced to the two, to which she smirked lightly and gave her own nod in agreement. However, a shadow was suddenly cast over the ship as an enormous figure flew over them. Upon looking up, each of their eyes widened greatly when they looked at an enormous whale soaring over them. Though they didn't have much time to admire its size for very long as it soon came flying right toward their ship.

"It's comin' right for us!" Goofy called out as he pointed at the whale as he opened its huge mouth.

"Get us out of here!" Sora yelled quickly while jumping up from her seat.

"It's too late!" Donald squawked out, to which he and the other two hugged one another as the whale swallowed the ship whole.

After this happened, the ship soon activated an emergency landing inside of the gigantic mammal's mouth. Though once it had, each of the three slowly let one another go from their 'hug of fright'. They then opened the dome of the ship and stepped out outside, which was the rather rough tongue of the whale.

"Whoa...now that was scary." Sora muttered silently as she glanced around, yet soon plugged her nose.

"Ugh...if being digested doesn't kill us...this smell will." she continued with a light groan of how nauseous she was feeling from the awful scent.

But not long after this comment a sound was heard from the side, of which was then followed by a plank of wood falling from what looked like a wooden ship. This obviously having been swallowed by the whale as well, though it was the moving puppet that came out of the side of the ship that made Sora blink. Her just watching this wooden doll carry a large green block up to the deck of the boat he came out of.

"Huh? Pinocchio?" Goofy muttered out with blinking eyes as he looked at this puppet.

Whom of which had thick, black hair and eyebrows. As well as, blue eyes and four-fingered hands, which had white gloves over them. His nose appeared slightly darker colored than the rest of his wooden body, which had noticeable hinges where his elbows and knees would be. Clothing-wise, the puppet wore a yellow hat with a red feather in it, and brown colored shoes. He also had on a tan, short-sleeved shirt under a black vest with gold lining. His shorts were red, and had on a blue bow at the front of his shirt.

Though after Goofy muttered out the puppet's name, Sora turned to him with blinking eyes in question. "You know him?" she asked with a tilt of her head to the side.

"Yep...we met Pinocchio back in Traverse Town while you were visiting Merlin." Donald explained as he looked out toward the ship the wooden doll climbed up on.

"He was trying to find his father Geppetto, I wonder if that's who he's with." Goofy added as they had each noticed someone else's shadow on the deck of the ship.

"Pinocchio is here?" a voice suddenly spoke out from Goofy's vest, which caused Sora to yelp and jump to the side as she had no idea who was talking.

Though after a moment, she soon saw a small cricket pop out from one of the dog's pockets and onto his shoulder. Him having on a black jacket and a blue top-hat, as well as a red umbrella in one of his hands. But this didn't make Sora calm down just yet as she hadn't met this person before. "Who is that?" she asked quickly as both Donald and Goofy looked to her with blinking eyes.

"Huh? You mean we didn't introduce you to Jiminy?" the latter of the two questioned back as he tilted his head to the side.

"I guess we've been a bit busy for introductions." the former muttered with a shrug of his shoulders.

"This is Jiminy...Jiminy Cricket. He's been recording our travels since we started." Goofy said with a gesture to said insect, whom bowed toward to girl.

"It's a pleasure Sora. Sorry for not introducing myself sooner...but we gotta go after Pinoke! Who knows what trouble he's into now." Jiminy said quickly with a gesture toward the ship.

Immediately following his words, the brown-haired teen nodded in response and rushed toward this vessel along with the others. Though along the way, the teen glanced over to Jiminy and cleared her throat lightly to get his attention. "Um...you're not going to record my reaction just now, are you? Or any of those types of reactions I've had thus far?" she asked with a highly sheepish tone.

The green insect merely blinked to her with a tilt of his head; "No...why? Was I supposed to?" he questioned back, to which Sora just shook her head.

"Nope...it's perfect that you didn't and won't." she said in a rushed manner while hurrying along.

Once they had climbed up to the deck of the ship, they saw Pinocchio standing together with an elder man. Both of them gazing down at the green block the puppet had gotten from the lower area of the vessel. "You really think we can get out of here with this big block?" the man asked in a heavy accent and a tilt of his head.

This older gentleman had black eyebrows, thick, white hair, and a similarly colored mustache. His eyes were blue, and had on frameless, rectangular spectacles. Along with having a large and round nose, his ears were slightly pointed at the tips. He had on a light lilac-colored shirt with baggy sleeves, which was worn under a red-violet vest. The man also wore a belt around his abdomen that was red-violet in color, as well as had gold lining and decorated with gold crosses. There were black breeches that covered his legs, though he also had on a pair of knee-high, grey socks and brown shoes with gold buckles.

"That's right father, I saw it back in that town we were in. That's why I brought it along with us...just in case." Pinocchio stated with a wide smile and almost proud tone.

"Hmm...I see. But I do hope you didn't take it without permission." the man questioned, him having great concern in his voice.

"Of course not father...Leon and Cid said I could have it when I mentioned we were leaving to go back home." the wooden doll responded, to which he soon looked over to Sora and the others as they came walking over to the pair.

"Oh! Donald...Goofy, you're here too?" he questioned the pair with blinking eyes, making both of them sigh briefly.

"Good gracious, the whale swallowed you too?" the elder man spoke up with blinking eyes at the trio.

"Looks that way." Sora muttered with a nod, to which she glanced down at the block as if thinking of how to use it in order to escape.

"I'm sorry to hear that. My name is Geppetto, I'm Pinocchio's father. We were just heading home when the whale swallowed us." he said while greeting each of the three as they introduced themselves.

"Well...I'm sure we'll be able to figure a way out of here." Geppetto continued, to which each of the three nodded in response.

"Now we just need to figure out how to use this block, right Pinocchio?" he asked, while glancing over toward where his son had been standing.

None of them realizing until it was too late that Pinocchio had wandered off and away from the ship. This making each of them looked around quickly for the puppet while calling his name, yet there didn't seem to be any sign of him. "Oh dear, you don't think he went further into the whale, do you?" the old man asked in a panic, him glancing over toward the only clear opening in the back of the mouth.

Though just as Geppetto was about to head in this direction himself, the brown-haired teen stopped him immediately. "Whoa whoa whoa, you can't just go down there...we don't even know if it's safe." she said quickly.

"But I have to find my son, I spent weeks looking for him...I can't just leave him." he responded as his tone was now filled with worry.

"Don't worry, you can just leave it to us. Right guys?" Sora stated, to which she glanced over toward Donald and Goofy.

Both of whom had just nodded before rushing toward and through the entrance of the throat. The teen smirked lightly to this as she looked to Geppetto with her own nod before following after her friends. But along the way, Sora felt a strange premonition as she got closer to the insides of the whale. 'For some reason...I feel like this is going to take a while.' she thought with a light groan.

* * *

There you have it so far. And yes, for the Hades Cup...I will have some of the fights, including the one against Hades since it will be rather important. ;) By the way, the inside of Monstro's mouth is mainly just a few ships including Geppetto's. So take mentally take out all those wooden towers from your minds if you could, I mean they were only used to make frustrating platforming sections anyway. Until next time everyone.


	29. Monstro part II

Alright everyone, this chapter is the last for this world. But it does introduce a key character into the series, whom will play an even larger role than before. ;) So I hope you all enjoy and just bare with me on this whole whale's anatomy thing cause I'll explain it in my end note.

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 29: Monstro part II

For almost half an hour, Sora wandered almost aimlessly through the stomach of the giant whale. Her groaning lightly as she had yet to find Pinocchio, or even spot Donald and Goofy for that matter. This making her sigh in response as she eventually stopped; "Ugh…I'm serious getting tired of this smell." she muttered to herself while pinching her nose.

Yet after just a few breaths through her mouth, she slapped a hand over her mouth and released her nose. "Oh gross…I can pretty much taste it now." the teen muffled out as she gagged briefly.

Though as she slowly continued on, she heard the sound of something wooden moving to the side. It coming from yet another chamber of the whale's stomach, of which Sora had gone through four of already. She then rushed in this direction and into the next area of the large mammal, to which she saw Pinocchio looking from side to side. Sora raising a brow briefly to him, yet she quickly figured out that he was likely lost and had no idea of how to get back.

The teen sighed to this and walked up to the living puppet; "Hey Pinocchio, can't find your way out of here?" she asked in order to gain his attention.

As Pinocchio turned to her with blinking eyes, he nodded his head in response. This made Sora walk over to him and give a small smirk, to which she patted him on the head gently. "Don't worry, I studied with Merlin and I know what the gastrointestinal tract looks like for many different animals, including a whale's." she muttered before clearing her throat, which showed her dislike toward the subject of 'Animal Biology'.

"S-So...I can take you back easily." Sora added quickly as she started leading the puppet toward the exit of the chamber.

"But what made you run off like that to begin with?" she continued with a glance and raised brow toward Pinocchio.

"Hmm?" the wooden boy hummed with a tilt of his head, yet he soon paused in his steps and smirked lightly.

"Oh! I was playing hide-and-seek!" he announced, causing the brown-haired girl to stop as well and blink back to him in response.

"Huh? 'Hide-and-seek'? With who?" she questioned while taking her turn in tilting her head to the side.

"With me." a familiar voice spoke up from behind Sora, to which she quickly turned toward her friend as he just smirked.

"Riku!" she called out with a wide grin as she then rushed over to him.

The teen then took on an amused smile as she then placed her hands on her hips; "Don't tell me you got swallowed up too...I figured that you'd be 'too cool' for that." she commented as her tone clearly matched her expression.

Riku just huffed to her briefly before slowly smirking lightly and crossing his arms; "So says the other person who got swallowed up by the whale." he stated quickly.

"Oh yeah? Well I wasn't the one who was driving, so it's not really my fault anyway." Sora retorted as she took on an almost proud expression.

"Well I wasn't..." Riku began, yet stopped himself as to show that he was rethinking his response.

"Yes~?" the brown-haired girl all but sang out in a teasing way, however, she knew that something was strange about her friend's sudden appearance inside the whale.

"Well at least I wasn't the one who studied about animals' gastrointestinal tracts." the teen boy claimed, which made Sora tilt her head down in defeat.

"I didn't ask to study it...Merlin just wanted me to since I have to take care of Zola." she muttered silently with a tone that made it clear she didn't want to talk about the subject.

Riku sweat dropped to this in response before clearing his throat and patting her shoulder; "Alright alright...I guess that was a bit much." he said with a heavy sigh, though he soon looked up in thought.

"Though...who is 'Zola'?" the silver-haired boy questioned while blinking his eyes.

"My baby leopard." Sora responded in a simple manner, of which made it difficult for her friend to understand what she just said for a brief few seconds.

"Wait what?!" he asked with wide eyes as he took a step backward.

The brown-haired girl blinked to him for a moment before shrugging her shoulders; "I found her in one of the worlds I visited...so I took her with me." she said, her voice and tone still making her words sound like she was talking about a simple matter.

"R-Right. I knew you had been making some weird friends, but now it's just getting crazy." Riku muttered as he cleared his throat lightly and shook his head.

"Anyway...did you find Kairi? We were actually head to Traverse Town to see if you had been there just before we were eaten." Sora questioned, to which she chuckled lightly at the end.

Yet as she opened her mouth to speak further, she slowly looked down and just settled on a small smirk toward her friend. The silver-haired teen raised a brow to her briefly before opening his mouth to respond. But just like with Sora, he soon closed it and took on his own smirk. "Maybe...but you'll have to catch me to find out." he claimed before he quickly rushed through the entrance of the closest chamber.

This made Sora blink a few times in response before looking down with an almost sad expression. 'He's really starting to doubt me.' she thought silently to herself.

'He's using this 'game' as a way to think things through...but I guess he's not the only one who's going to do that.' the teen continued while clenching her jaw briefly as if in frustration.

'I really want to tell him about my idea of Kairi being inside of me, but...I don't know if he'll believe that. Or even that I believe it myself.' she finished, to which she slowly moved into position to start running.

Though she quickly paused and glanced toward Pinocchio as he just blinked at her with a confused expression on his wooden features. She then looked down in thought for a moments, to which she tapped her chin; "Hmm...how to make this work." she muttered aloud to herself.

Yet she quickly turned to the side as Donald and Goofy fell down from a chamber above them. She immediately took on a grin to this as she gestured to the pair; "Stay with them, I'll come find you afterward, alright?" Sora said, just before she then rushed through the opening in order to follow after Riku.

All the while, the puppet just walked over to Donald and Goofy, both of whom quickly jumped to their feet as they saw Pinocchio before them. "There you are!" the former of the two shouted.

"Ya know, Geppetto is awfully worried about you." the anthropomorphic dog added with a nod of his head to further his words.

"Yeah, so lets go...we need to get you back." Donald said as he gestured for the living puppet to follow him, to which the group headed back toward the ship in the mouth.

Yet deeper into the stomach, Sora rushed along through the many chambers of the whale's gastrointestinal tract. However, she had yet to see or hear any sound of her friend as she could only assume she was still going in the right direction. Though upon coming up to the opening of a chamber four yards above the floor, she quickly stopped as to not fall off the edge.

After glancing around the new area from above, she couldn't find Riku anywhere and decided to go back the way she came. But just before she turned away, she saw the silver-haired teen rushing through one of the entrances below her. This made her pause and back up slightly in order to stay out of sight, her not being sure if she should reveal herself now, or wait.

Though before she could make a decision, the brown-haired girl suddenly heard a voice echoing softly in the chamber ahead. It sounding like a woman from the sound, to which the teen girl slowly crept up to the opening once more. Yet Sora still remained out of sight as best as she could, allowing her to listen in on the conversation. However, she also wasn't able to see anything either for the sake of remaining hidden from sight.

"So you still care for your friend, do you?" the woman's voice questioned right next to where Riku was rushing by.

"So what of it?" the boy demanded back as his tone sounded as though he didn't like the older female.

"I thought you said that you were starting to get the sense that she was hiding something from you." the woman said, her calm tone seeming very contrasting to Riku's impatient one.

"Of course she's hiding something, she's always been terrible at keeping secrets from me. But it's worse than that now." the teen boy muttered as he slowly stopped in his running.

"At first I thought it was just something she didn't want to tell me, cause I'm sure there are plenty of things she regrets along this journey." Riku said, though Sora could have sworn she heard him add 'like me' at the end, yet wasn't sure.

"But now I'm positive that it involves Kairi. And I don't like the fact that she's hiding it from me." he continued in a firmer tone as he was obviously very upset.

Sora's eyes widened to this as she soon looked down, a wave of guilt rushing through her as she kept on listening. "So then why go through this facade of have her chase you to the end of this large beast? You know that the commanding Heartless is down there, do you not?" the woman asked, her voice still seeming extremely calm.

"I need to know how good she's gotten. If push comes to shove and I need to force her to tell me what she knows about Kairi...I'll have to know more about how she fights. Plus my whole idea with that puppet was bound to fail anyway. I had no true way of following his heart once the Heartless took it so that I could find out where Kairi's heart went." Riku responded, yet he soon let out a 'Tch!' before starting running once more.

"Anyway...just mind your own business! I can handle this on my own!" was the last thing he called out before he disappeared into the next chamber.

The brown-haired girl just stayed in her spot as she looked down at the 'ground' with sadness and guilt in her eyes. 'He knew something was up the moment I didn't speak up during our last encounter. The Cheshire Cat's words were running through my mind and I just couldn't bring myself to say anything. But now...it's so much worse.' she thought in her mind while closing her eyes briefly.

Though she soon snapped her eyes open as she heard the woman's voice once more; "You may come out now...he is gone."

This made Sora blink many times as she slowly came into sight, to which she finally saw the woman down below looking up at her. She was a fair, green-skinned female with shining, yellow eyes that held small black pupils. They also held heavy eye-shadowing around them, though she also seemed to have violet make-up and red lipstick.

Her clothing consisted of a long, tattered black robe with a purple trim and maroon flare edges. Though the oddest parts of her appearance were the black-horned headdress, as well as the fin-like spikes on the sides of her neck. She also carried a staff with a glowing green orb at the tip and wore a golden ring with a circular black stone in it.

"Do not be afraid my child, I only came here to check on Riku. It's a pleasure to meet you." the woman spoke while bowing slightly to the teen.

Sora blinked many times to her before jumping down and bowing as well. "Likewise." was all the brown-haired girl could respond with.

"My name is Maleficent, I do hope my appearance does not frighten you." she said while attempting to cover her face with a hand.

The teen waved her hands quickly in response; "N-No...not at all." Sora said as she shook her head as well.

"My name is Sora, it's nice to meet you." she continued, yet her voice sounded almost halfhearted while she spoke.

Maleficent soon moved her hand away before tilting her head to the side; "Dear me...you seem distressed, whatever is the matter child?" she asked in her usual calm tone.

The teen looked at her silently for a few moments, yet she slowly tilted her head down. "I feel like I'm betraying one of my best friends, but I don't know what to do. I feel like if I tell him something...he'll think I'm crazy. Though if I don't tell him...he'll just hate and distrust me even more than he does now." she said silently while continuing to look down.

"I see...that's quite a predicament. But I'm afraid you must find your own answer for it, though I would suggest listening to your heart. It will never lead you astray." Maleficent said as she placed a hand to Sora's lowered head.

Though upon doing this, the woman took on a small smirk as a brief flash of green fire radiated from her hand. However, the brown-haired girl didn't notice this as she just kept looking down at the 'ground'. Yet after hearing Maleficent's words, she tilted her head up to look at her and slowly took on a small smirk.

"You're right." she said while shooting a glance over toward the entrance that Riku had gone through.

But before she was about to follow after her friend once more, she quickly turned back to Maleficent. "Thank you!" she said quickly as she rushed off on her way.

Once she had vanished through the opening, the woman just smirked once more; "No...thank you." she whispered with a light chuckle before disappearing in a flash of green fire, her voice echoing briefly off the walls in an eerie manner.

All the while, Sora quickly caught up to Riku after a few minutes, which lead for them to both quicken their running pace. Yet the moment the reached the end of the fore-stomach, the brown-haired girl would jump and tackle her friend to the 'ground'. Though they landed side-by-side one another, they both just stared up at the 'ceiling' and breathed heavily.

"Looks like...you've gotten...a bit faster." Riku heaved out as he glanced over toward the girl.

"Heh...you haven't...seen...anything yet." Sora commented with a light grin, to which they both chuckled softly.

However, unlike most other times, this laughter was forced on both of their parts. Neither one knowing how to start the conversation they wanted to have as they just laid there catching their breath. Despite the bad smell in the air around them, they were too desperate for air to worry too much about it.

Yet before either of them could speak, a roar was heard from the opening the in the 'floor' to the side of them. This made them both jump back to their feet and summon their weapons, to which Sora rushed forward first. 'I need to prove to him that he can still trust me.' she thought quickly as Riku followed closely after her.

Upon going into the next area, it was clear that they had reached the main area of the stomach where everything was digested. There being stomach acid around them, as well as one other opening to the side that would lead further 'down'. Though it was the large Heartless in the middle that caught their attention.

It being a large, magenta blob in shape with glowing yellow eyes and thin, rounded teeth that resembled prison bars. Its body rested on a flower-like base that was light orange in color, while the much smaller head on top was a light tan. This second head sported a jagged mouth and glowing yellow eyes. It also had two short, blue spikes under its mouth, and a light-orange, curled antenna on its top.

The Heartless also had two long, pale green tentacles sprouting from either side of the second head and ended in yellow "hands". These having three fingers that sported blue spikes on each one. Lastly, the emblem Sora had seen on many of the stronger Heartless was present on this one as well, it been between the eyes of the lower head.

"You ready for this?" Riku asked with a glance to the girl as he got into a fighting stance.

"Hmph...I was born ready." Sora responded as she took on her own pose, which put the two back-to-back.

Yet within moments after charging forward, they had defeated their opponent with ease. Neither of them so much as breaking a sweat as they almost forgot all about their issues between one another as they high-fived. Though after a brief moment, Riku seemed to be first one to get back to business.

"So then...I guess I owe you an explanation, huh?" he started with a raised brow.

However, Sora raised a hand up and just smiled softly; "Lets go to Traverse Town first. There are things I want to talk to you about as well." she said quickly as the silver-haired teen blinked a few times, yet he slowly nodded and gave a small smile of his own.

The pair then headed out of the stomach and back toward the mouth, to which Donald, Goofy and Pinocchio managed to make it back just a few minutes after they had. Though as they were all piling into the Gummi Ship to leave, Riku had suddenly disappeared from sight. Despite Sora not knowing where he had gone, she knew that he would escape on his own somehow. Which lead for them to fly up and through the whale's blowhole for their escape.

"Are you sure he'll make it out?" Goofy asked as he seemed rather doubtful in both tone and expression.

"I'm positive. We agreed to meet up in Traverse town, and we never break our promises." Sora stated firmly with a small smirk on her features.

* * *

Alright, there you have it. Maleficent is here and manipulating them both. ;D She's my favorite Disney villain so I have to show her some love. ^^ But anyway, for those of you who are interested, a whale has what is called a 'fore-stomach' before the main stomach, which does indeed have chambers in it. So technically, Monstro's insides are anatomically correct to a degree. Anyway, I hope all of you enjoyed and will let me know what you thought. I know that the pacing really sped up at the end there, but that was only because I ran short on time. =/ So, until next time.


	30. Traverse Town part V

Alright, this one didn't have as much as I was expecting...in terms of fights and such, but I got the major points across that are needed. But I hope all of you enjoy it all the same. ^^

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 30: Traverse Town part V

Sora glanced around the open area of the First District, to which she briefly looked to a clock just outside of the nearby restaurant. Her letting out a heavy breath in response as she continued to shift her gaze from side to side to try and find her friend. 'Shouldn't he have been here by now?' she questioned silently to herself.

Though during these thoughts, Zola popped her head out from Sora's hood and meowed at her. "I know right? He is taking forever." the teen muttered with a huff.

"I even brought you along so I could introduce you, and yet he hasn't shown up even after a half hour." she continued, to which she let out a heavy breath.

After her words however, Zola licked Sora's cheek and gave another meow in response. This making the brown-haired girl smile and nod lightly; "Ah, it'll be worth the wait." she whispered as she stayed in her spot at the center of the area.

But within mere moments, a figure came rushing near the two at a quick pace. Of which Sora noticed out of the corner of her eye, to which she quickly turned to face this person. Yet it soon revealed to be a small anthropomorphic duck that looked similar to Huey, Dewy and Louie. Though it was clear that she was a female from the long eye lashes, pink bow on her head, and her similarly colored dress.

"Please help! Uncle Scrooge is in trouble!" she called out while running around the whole court yard of the First District, drawing as much attention to herself as possible.

Sora blinked many times to this before glancing around briefly and sighing; 'Oh come on Riku, where are you?' she all but whined in her mind.

Yet the teen soon waved the young girl over as she seemed almost irritated; "What's going on? What's wrong?" she questioned with a raised brow.

"It's Uncle Scrooge! He found a magic lamp on an expedition, but now an evil wizard is after him! We've been trying to hide ourselves, but he caught us!" the young duckling explained quickly as she looks down afterward.

"Uncle Scrooge sent me here to get Leon for help, but I can't find him." she continued before looking up to Sora.

"So please, can you help us?" she finished in a begging tone while clasping her hands together to further this.

The brown-haired teen blinked her eyes for a moment before giving another glance around the area. 'I know it's the right thing to do, but what if he shows up? I already asked Donald and Goofy to stay away since I don't want them to know about what I'll tell Riku, but maybe I could ask them to go. Although...what if it's too much for them?' she thought quickly as she looked to the younger girl.

'But...doing the right thing is still the right thing.' the girl mussed silently before clearing her throat.

"Alright, but lets make it quick. I really need to meet with someone here." she stated as the duckling nodded in response.

"Okay, this way!" she called out while leading Sora over to the back of the shop Huey, Dewy and Louie normally ran.

Upon arriving there, a small craft awaited them in the shape of a golden colored Gummi ship. Yet before they entered, the teen told Zola to stay in her hood as to make sure that nothing would happen to her. Once the ship flew off with them inside, Sora took notice that it was going considerably faster than the Gummi ship she, Donald and Goofy had been using.

"Oh...my name is Webby by the way, what's your name?" the younger girl asked with blinking eyes as she ship seemed to fly all on its own.

"I'm Sora, nice to meet you." the teen responded, as she also introduced Zola to the duckling.

Though it would only take five minutes for them to come up to their destination, the brown-haired girl seemed highly impatient. The world itself was rather large and held various areas within it, which included a desert on the outskirts and even a city one the opposite side.

Yet while the ship headed toward the ground near the city, each of them soon looked up with blinking eyes at the sight of a huge floating castle. This slightly frightening Zola as she quickly hid in Sora's hood once more, said teen just tilting her head to the side slightly. "Whoa...what's that?" she asked as she raised a brow.

"Oh no! Merlock must have gotten the lamp!" Webby exclaimed in shock as she pressed a few buttons on the ship's console.

This immediately made the craft change course, fly straight up to the floating castle and finally land in one of the few flat areas. It being the exact area that Sora noticed Huey, Dewy, Louie, and three other figures were gathered. 'Looks like we're a bit late to the party.' the brown-haired girl thought quickly while jumping out of the ship the moment it landed and glanced around to each of the other three.

The first looking similar to the other young ducklings, yet wore an outfit that appeared very much alike to those she saw from Aladdin and Jasmine's world. Him having green pants, brown shoes, a red sash around his waist, a long-sleeved blue shirt and a simple black vest. Though he did have thick eyebrows, they were mostly covered by the large red hat on his head, which held a green gem in the center and had a purple feather. There were also large hooped earrings near his ear-holes, of which were thin and gold in color.

Next was a much older duck around Donald's height, whom wore a simple blue tunic that had a red collar and cuffs. This garment having a single golden button at the top and a red belt around the waist. He also had on a black top-hat and a pair of frameless glasses at the edge of his bill. Lastly, he held a cane in his left hand, of which he used to walk defiantly toward the last person.

Whom of which appeared to be a tall anthropomorphic dog, whom had a grey beard, as well as a similarly colored mustache growing out to either side. He wore a blue, hooded cloak that had designs in the center that were various shades of blue and even some gold. The last of which was also around his cuffs as they nearly covered his hands completely. This person also had on a blue, high-collared cape that he wore over the cloak and was a deep red color on the inside. Lastly were his brown shoes, and the thick red sash around his rather large stomach.

"You maniac! Return the Bin before I stuff that lamp down your throat!" the elder duck claimed in a very thick accent.

This making Sora blink many times in response before smirking lightly; 'I like this guy. And I'm guessing her must be 'Uncle Scrooge'.' she thought silently before looking to the large dog as he glared at Scrooge.

"You dare threaten me?" he demanded, to which the brown-haired teen quickly determined that he must be 'Merlock'.

Him holding a golden lamp in his left hand, which had a green talisman on the top rather than the normal lid. Despite not knowing all the events that transpired, Sora didn't bother to wait for an explanation. She simply rushed up in front of Merlock with her Keyblade summoned and an enormous golden glow around her whole body. This shocking said man as he looked at her with widened eyes; "Sorry..." she started while knocking the lamp from his hand.

"...but I'm in a hurry." she finished before engulfing herself and Merlock with an enormous wave of lightning magic.

This creating a blinding light for everyone as they had to cover their eyes. Though they could still feel the immense power, as well as hear the roof above them shatter to ruble. Yet once all of this vanished, it revealed Sora standing where Merlock once had, yet said dog was no where to be found. Everyone blinked in response to this, yet quickly snapped out of it as Sora picked up the magic lamp near her foot and handed over to Scrooge.

"I believe this belongs to you." she said with a small grin on her features, to which the old duck just blinked a few times.

However, Scrooge eventually smirked lightly and nodded his head; "I was expecting Leon, but I think you took care of him even faster than he would have." he said silently while holding his hand out to shake.

"Thanks a lot lass, I'll definitely make sure to pay ya back for this one." he continued as Sora took his offered hand into her own.

"It was nothing, I was glad to help. Though I really gotta get back, I need to talk with someone I was waiting for." Sora said while gesturing toward the Gummi ship she and Webby had come in.

Upon her words, Scrooge blinked a few times and simply nodded his head once more in response. "Ah, of course." was all he said before the teen rushed to the ship while pulling the young female duckling with her.

Once they were inside, they flew off at a fast pace back to Traverse Town. However, Scrooge tilted his head to the side briefly and tapped the side of his bill; "Hmm...I feel like I've seen her before." he muttered silently.

All the while, Sora just felt like it was taking even longer to get back, her anxiousness continuing to grow by the second. Not even Zola's meowing could break her concentration, said leopard glowing lightly for a few moments from the magic she absorbed from Sora. Though once they had landed, the brown-haired girl jumped out of the craft and looked around quickly as if hoping to see Riku. Yet the only familiar faces she saw were Donald and Goofy rushing toward her, of which lead for a sinking feeling to develop in the pit of her stomach.

"Sora! We saw Riku in the Second District! He was carrying someone in his arms, but it looked like he just came from the First!" Goofy called out to her.

This lead for the teen to immediately rush as fast as possible to the Second District, her not even listening to anything else the two had to say. To which as she reached her destination, she then began to look around quickly while continuing to run. "Riku! Riku where are you?!" she cried out in a highly desperate tone.

"I just stepped out for a few minutes! I hurried as fast as I could! I really wanted to talk to you about this!" Sora continued as she kept searching for her friend, despite not knowing if he was even still there.

"I swear I wasn't putting others before her! It was a cry for help that I couldn't just ignore!" she yelled loudly, her eventually stopping in the middle of the walkway on the upper level.

"Come on Riku! You know me better than that!" was the last thing she yelled before she felt a brief surge of darkness to the side.

However, this energy seemed similar to the kind she sensed the night Riku had been swallowed up by the darkness. Immediately after realizing this, Sora ran as fast as she could in this direction. Even as Zola tugged at her hood as if to try and gain her attention, the teen refused to acknowledge it as she kept running. Yet the very second she arrived, all she could see was Riku's form.

Which was disappearing into a black, swirling portal, along with another figure in his arms of whom she identified as Kairi. "Riku!" she screamed while reaching out and rushing toward the closing gateway.

Yet by the time she reached where it had been, all that remained were small traces of black smoke. While watching this darkness vanish in front of her eyes, Sora slowly fell to her hands and knees. "Why?" she whispered out silently as Zola jumped out of her hood and rubbed against her arm.

"Why do I have to put others before Kairi? She's supposed to be my friend, right?" the brown-haired girl asked to no one as tears slipped from her eyes, to which the leopard let out a sad sounding meow.

"Couldn't I have just asked someone else to take care of that 'Merlock'? He was just a pushover anyway." Sora continued while grinding her teeth together and gripping her hands into fists.

"But could you have known that ahead of time?" a voice spoke up from behind the teen, to which both she and Zola quickly turned to look at Merlin.

"It's understandable that you'd feel upset, but you cannot save or even help everyone on your own. No matter how powerful you become...you can't, and never should do things alone." the elder man stated as he walked up beside the girl and kneeled down.

He then lifted Zola into his right arm and took one of Sora's hands into his left one. This lead for him to slowly help her to her feet and then had the baby leopard back to the teen, whom immediately hugged Zola.

"Your friend Riku might feel that you've abandoned him and Kairi...but that isn't the case at all, now is it? So all you need to do is show him that you still care." he continued with a soft smile.

Sora just stared at him with tear-filled eyes as she sniffed lightly and tilted her head down. "But I don't know how. I had a chance just now and I blew it." she muttered out, her tone filled with uncertainty.

"How can I still prove it to him?" the brown-haired girl questioned while keeping her gaze on the old man, yet she started to pet Zola gently in order to try and calm herself down.

"Just follow your heart my dear, it will never lead you astray." was all Merlin said as he smiled a bit wider to her.

Upon his words, Sora blinked a few times as Maleficent's similar speech echoed in her mind for a moment before she slowly nodded. "Well..." she started while wiping her still fresh tears from her face.

"...I guess I'll just have to keep trying until something works, right?" Sora continued as she gave a soft smile to both Merlin and Zola, the last of whom meowed in agreement.

"They're my best friends after all, and I definitely shouldn't give up." the girl finished as she managed to smile a bit wider, despite the face that she still wanted to cry.

"That's the spirit, go show him what for!" Merlin claimed with a nod of his head, to which he watched Sora rush off toward the First District once more with Zola in her arms.

Though his eyes narrowed slightly as he soon glanced around the area; "Hmm, how strange." he began in a suspicious sounding tone.

"I could have swore I sensed Maleficent's magic somewhere around here." he muttered silently while raising a brow.

However, after a brief moment, he shifted his gaze in Sora's direction with his eyes narrowing even more. "I do hope she hasn't run into her yet. I haven't told her about how much of a threat that witch truly is." Merlin finished as his voice became one of great worry.

* * *

And now we're in the final stretch of Kingdom Hearts I. I hope all of you have enjoyed it so far and will continue to enjoy it in the future. This is technically the last added world for KH I, but there will be more to come in the later games. These ones were to just 'test the water' in order to see how well they would be received by all of you. I think some of you enjoyed them, so I'll continue doing more. Anyway, I hope all of you still like the direction things are going, cause trust me...it'll just get even more interesting from here. And for those of you who think Sora got over her sadness too quickly; one...she's Sora (the eternal optimist), and two...she's not completely over it just yet. Until next time. ;)


	31. Atlantica part I

**Aright, now comes the meaty area of the story where things start to come together like a puzzle. ;) I hope all of you enjoy this chapter and look forward to more in the future. ^^**

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 31: Atlantica part I

Sora's eyes narrowed heavily as she continued to think over everything that Leon had told her just before she, Donald and Goofy had left Traverse Town. Him informing her that the world she had just gone to was called; Duckburg, and was one of the many worlds King Mickey had saved from the Heartless. Yet it was the information about the group controlling the Heartless that drew them toward their next destination.

" _I spent a good amount of time searching for answers about this 'gathering', but all I could find was that Jafar and Hades are both members. Though the key discovered I made was finding out that Maleficent is the one leading this group. Apparently their base is in Hollow Bastion, but Maleficent casted a spell over it that doesn't allow anyone whom 'doesn't know where it is' to find it. So we'll have to find someone in their ranks to tell us the location. I did manage to tail one of their other members to a world nearby. But I wasn't able to enter it due to the circumstances of the world. Though with Merlin's magic, you should be able to enter it easily. So the moment you find her, make her tell you the location of Hollow Bastion. Then we can plan our attack."_

"Hmm, Ursula huh?" Sora muttered silently to herself as she looked up in thought, though soon received a meow in response from her lap.

Zola tilted her head up to gaze at the teen as she continued to lie on her thighs; "I know right? It does sound like some kind of sea food." she said with a light giggle.

Though, as the ship flew toward a world that appeared to be covered almost completely in water, the teen blinked a few times. "Huh...maybe we weren't too far off." she whispered in a soft chuckle.

"Okay...everyone ready?" Donald questioned as he looked around to each of the others, whom nodded in response.

"Alright, I'll cast the transforming spell Merlin taught me so that we can survive in this underwater world." he continued on as he soon pressed the teleportation button at the same time as waving his mage staff.

This bringing the four to the world below just as the transformation finished, which revealed them to be many leagues under the water already. Yet even more interesting still, was the fact that their bodies had changed form, in various different ways.

Goofy still had the head of a dog, yet the rest of his body was that of a sea turtle. Donald retained his upper duck form, but his lower half was now that of an octopus' limbs. Sora too kept her human torso, though her bottom portion became a dolphin's tail. However, due to her clothing not transporting with her, all she had to cover herself were a pair of blue colored shells tied around her chest. Lastly, Zola seemed almost completely normal, yet her lower half had become that of an eastern fiddler ray.

Sora blinked to this many times before quickly covering the shells as she still felt as if she were naked. But after looking around the surprisingly well-lit ocean bottom, she slowly forgot about this dilemma. The teen seeing remarkable coral, beautifully colored fish, and many hydro-thermal vents producing a nice warm heat in the water around them.

"Cool~!" she hummed out while looking to all this, to which she glanced around to each of the others.

All of whom were attempting to get the hang of their newly transformed bodies, with little to no success. Each of them were trying to swim in a natural way, or as 'natural' as they possibly could. This lead for Sora to make her own attempt, which made her slightly disoriented as she couldn't stop from accidentally spinning around over and over.

"This is a bit of a problem...we won't be very good at interrogating this 'Ursula' if we can barely even swim." Sora muttered while managing to bring her body upright.

Upon her words, Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement, to which Zola managed to move over to the teen. Whom brought the small 'cat-fish' into her arms and glanced around; "We'll need some swimming lessons from the locals."

"Good idea. But..uh..who could we even ask? We don't know how many creatures in this world can actually talk. Or if they are even nice enough to teach us." Goofy added as her seemed to keep flipping belly-side up.

"Well...Ursula can't be the only one here, there is bound to be lots of other people around. Including some nice ones." Donald stated, him just remaining upside-down after giving up on swimming.

"True." the brown-haired girl said silently while glancing around the area once more.

Though as she did, Sora noticed a figure swimming quickly toward them along with two other smaller beings. Yet it was the jellyfish-like Heartless chasing after them that drew the teen's attention. "Here we go." she whispered silently as she summoned her Keyblade in one hand and kept Zola in her other.

Once the figures came close enough, Sora could make out their features in the clear water. The first was an older teenage girl with a normal upper body, which had two purple shells covering her chest. She also appeared to have beautiful, long, red hair and bright blue eyes. But even more interesting still, her lower body looked like that of a green-scaled fish. Though rather than kicking it from side to side like a normal fish, she kicked it up and down similar to that of a marine mammal.

The other two seemed to be a small red crab, and a rather pudgy fish, which was yellow and blue in color. Yet as they all swam as fast as they possibly could, the Heartless were still gaining on them. However, once the trio came close enough to Sora, she fired a bolt of lightning through the water and into each of the four Heartless. All of which, were quickly defeated by her magic, but not without twitching from the electrocution first.

Upon seeing this, the three strangers turned to her with blinking eyes in surprise. This lead for the red-haired mermaid to swim over to Sora, though both teens held curious gazes toward one another. "That was amazing. I haven't seen anyone other than my daddy defeat those creatures like that." the older teen said, her giving a small smile.

The brown-haired girl blinked briefly before smirking lightly and shrugged; "It was nothing, I'm glad you're not hurt." she responded with a signature grin and thumbs up after dismissing her weapon.

"Thanks, I'm Ariel by the way. What's your name?" the other girl asked with a small smirk.

"I'm Sora." she started before she then introduced Zola, Donald and Goofy.

This leading for Ariel to wave in greeting before gesturing to the two with her; "This is Flounder and that's Sebastian." she said pointing from the fish to the crab.

After giving her own wave, Sora soon cleared her throat lightly as she spoke up once more. "Oh...by the way, would you be able to teach us on how to swim?"

Ariel blinked many times to this in question while tilting her head to the side, it being clear that she was confused. "Huh?" was all she could mutter out.

"Well you see, we're not quite used to these waters. So we're having a difficult time swimming around." Sora said with a small smile, yet she was highly nervous on the inside as she was afraid Ariel might find out that they're from another world.

However, she sighed in relief as the older teen just smiled in response and nodded her head. "Of course~! I'd be more than happy to teach you since you did just save our lives." she said while gesturing to her tail.

"Alright...we'll start with a bit of basic movements, if that's okay with you." Ariel said as she tilted her head to the side in question.

This earning her a nod from Sora, Donald and Goofy, as well as a meow from Zola. Yet it was almost an entire half hour later that each of them were able to swim naturally in the depths of the ocean. Though after getting the hang of it, Sora felt rather embarrassed that she wasn't able to do it on her own as it was quite a simple task. Yet she was brought away from these thoughts as Ariel soon spoke to her in an inquisitive tone.

"So what are each of you doing here anyway? I don't think I've ever seen anything like you guys before." she asked with blinking, yet examining eyes.

"Actually, we're here to find someone named Ursula and get her to answer a few questions we have." Sora stated as she got right to business.

'If I'm direct, she might be willing to answer. Besides...I'm sure that she knows who this Ursula is anyway and should be able to point us in the right direction.' the brown-haired teen thought to herself quickly, but soon blinked at Ariel's gasp to hearing Ursula's name.

"The Sea Witch? You have business with her?" the red-haired girl asked, her voice seeming a bit nervous.

"Unfortunately so. She knows the location of something very important, so I need her to tell me." Sora answered as her eyes gained a determined, yet slightly dangerous glint.

"Even if I have to make her tell me." she continued silently, the teen mainly whispering this to herself.

Despite this however, Ariel could still hear this and blinked many times in response, her expression even turning rather sympathetic. "This information she has...it must mean a lot to you, huh?" she asked quietly, to which the other teen answered with a nod.

"If that's the case..." the red-haired mermaid continued as she slowly smiled; "...I'll lead you to her." she finished, her taking on a determined gaze as well.

Sora blinked a great many times to this before smiling and hugging Ariel; "Thank you so much~!" she exclaimed happily, to which the other mermaid just smiled and hugged her back briefly.

"It's the least I can do. You saved my life...plus, you have something very important that you need. So of course I'll help out any way I can." the older teen stated as they separated from one another.

"Alright! Lets go get her!" Sora declared as they all swam off in one direction, Ariel being in the lead.

However, before they got very far, a group of Heartless came toward them from around a large rock formation. Sora immediately summoned her Keyblade on instinct as she readied for battle. Though before any attack could be made, a burst of light came from the side and reduced these Heartless to mere bubbles. After looking to this in surprise, they soon turned their gazes toward the source of this light.

It having come from a figure that came swimming up to them in a slow, yet almost intimidating manner. This person appeared to be an elder merman with a long, white beard, mustache and hair. He had a muscular upper body and a golden crown upon his head, though his lower half appeared similar to a blue-scaled fish's tail. Yet it was the golden trident in his right hand that drew attention, it appearing to be glowing lightly before it returned to normal.

"D-Daddy!" Ariel exclaimed in fright as her tone showed her clear nervousness.

"Y-Your Majesty!" Sebastian all but squeaked out in his own distinct accent.

Sora and the others just blinked to this man, to which the brown-haired teen just tilted her head in question. 'So he's her father and royalty? But who exactly is this guy? And what does he rule?' she thought silently to herself before raising a hand slightly to gain attention.

"So...who're you?" she asked with a raised brow.

Immediately following her question, most of the 'locals' turned to her with an expression that seemed like they were asking her if she hit her head. Save for the elder man himself, his gaze was locked on her Keyblade for a few moments as he gave Sora a brief glare. Though Sebastian soon cleared his throat as he swam up beside this new person; "Behold! You swim before the ruler of the seas! King Triton!" he announced while gesturing to said man.

The younger teen once again blinked a few times to this as she looked the merman over for a moment. "Um...it's nice to meet you?" she halfway greeted, halfway questioned with another slight tilt of her head.

Though King Triton appeared to want to say something to her, he just turned his attention to his daughter. "Ariel! What are you doing outside of the palace?!" he demanded in a very firm sounding voice that nearly caused ripples through the water.

"But Daddy...I had to-" the red-haired girl began, but was quickly cut off from her father continuing on.

"No 'buts' young lady! I won't let you out of my sight until these creatures are gone!" he started as he floated close to them.

"It's too dangerous to be out here on your own!" King Trident finished as Sora, Donald and Goofy ended up sweat dropping lightly.

The brown-haired teen making a brief utterance about how they're 'swimming' right there. Though she had nearly said 'standing' in her comment, which made the merman turn to her with heavily narrowed eyes. Yet despite smiling sheepishly to him, King Trident seemed to just let this pass and turn back to his daughter.

"Lets go...we have to return to the palace before those creatures try to attack it first." he said while gesturing in the direction he had come from.

While Ariel opened her mouth to say something, her father gave her a stern expression that made her go silent. This lead for her to give Sora and the others an apologetic glance before heading toward the palace out in the distance. "Come on, we better go." she said to them with a gesture to follow after her.

But as Sora nodded in response and readied to tail behind her, King Triton moved his trident in the way. "Not you." he all but commanded as he narrowed his eyes on her once more.

"I won't be allowing the holder of the Key Blade from the Dark Realm swim in my ocean!" the merman growled out as if to make sure Ariel couldn't hear him.

* * *

 **Oh~ boy...what's gonna happen now? Could a fight break out? Could Triton pose a threat to our heroes? Find out what happens next on the next episode of Dragon Ball Z-I mean Inverted Sky...that's what I meant to say. *Ehem* Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. Make sure to leave a review letting me know what you thought. Until next time.**


	32. Atlantica part II

Sorry that this was late. Well...it was only late if you were waiting for me to post it around the usual time that I would. Though I don't know how many of you do that, I'm still gonna apologize for it. But anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think afterward.

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 32: Atlantica part II

Sora blinked many times to King Triton's words, to which she tilted her head to the side. "How do you even know about such things?" she asked with a bit of surprise in her voice.

"That is no concern of yours, now leave my ocean immediately!" the King ordered, though he soon continued in a more hushed tone as Ariel had stopped swimming and turned toward them.

"You are a danger to everyone here, now go." he continued, to which he turned his back to her.

As Sora looked at him, her eyes briefly narrowed yet she soon tilted her head down in thought. Which lead for her to clear her throat after a few moments in order to gain Triton's attention. "Alright…I'll leave, but could you allow my friends to stay? They're on an important mission from King Mickey to save the worlds in danger from those Heartless." the brown-haired teen requested in a very respectful tone.

King Triton glanced to her over his shoulder for a moment, to which he looked down briefly and let out a heavy sigh. "Very well…if it's under 'his' orders, I will allow them to stay here to help with this 'problem'." he responded silently, though his tone sounded as if he wasn't fully sure on this decision.

Yet before he could change his mind, Sora gave a nod to him and swam toward Donald with Zola in her arms. This lead for her to hand the small 'cat-fish' over to her friend; "Watch over her for me, will you?" she asked with a small smile.

However, just before she swam away, she whispered; 'Come find me when you're ready' to Donald in such a silent tone that the 'duck' barely heard heard her. But she just went off on her way till she was out of sight from the group, to which she waited for the others to leave before coming back out. She then glanced around the area and let out a heavy sigh in response; "Ugh...he just had to go and make things complicated, didn't he?" she muttered silently to herself.

'Oh well...so long as I can stay out of sight long enough, we should be able to achieve our mission here. I just hope that King Triton doesn't find out that I'm sticking around.' she mussed while swimming in the same direction as the others had.

Though upon coming up toward where the large, gold-colored palace was, she seemed satisfied that King Triton wasn't going to come looking for her any time soon. Yet after looking at the structure, Sora couldn't help but admire how cool it looked. It being a series of tall towers that were interwoven by many pillars and what looked to be walkways.

But when looking at these paths, the teen blinked a few times in question of whether or not only mermaids and mermen actually lived there. However, she didn't muse about this for much longer as she then swam back toward the area she had arrived in, to which she tilted her head down in thought.

"Hmm...where should I start looking?" she muttered in a quiet voice while tapping her chin gently.

"Why search for her..." a voice suddenly started from behind her, which revealed to be a long, green eel as the teen turned quickly to face it.

"...when she is already waiting for you." another eel spoke as it swam around her in unison with the other one.

"And you two are?" Sora questioned with narrowed eyes, to which she summoned her Keyblade and readied it for a fight.

"Ursula's messengers." the first eel said as they swam around each other.

"We're here to bring you to her." the other spoke as Sora soon noticed that each of them had one yellow eye and one white one.

This making her raise a brow in response while watching the pair carefully, though she soon glanced to the side briefly. 'Should I go now...or wait for the others?' she thought silently, yet turned back to the two eels after a brief second.

"Lead the way." was all she said, to which the pair nodded in response and began swimming toward a large crack in the ocean floor.

Sora simply followed them silently, yet kept her Keyblade out as she focused her gaze even further upon the eels. 'There are things I want to ask Ursula about that don't pertain to Maleficent or Hollow Bastion...so maybe it's best if I do this one my self.' she thought silently as her thoughts turned to Riku and Kairi.

However, the further she swam, the more the teen's thoughts shifted to Merlin's words about how she shouldn't do things all on her own. Yet the moment she began to consider this, a flicker of black and green fire could be seen on her forehead. Of which she rubbed each time, but since she couldn't feel or see it for herself, she had no idea what was going on.

After moving through this long split in the ground, they eventually came up toward a large opening that revealed many hydro-thermal vents. These ones however, seemed to let out the water with a strange purple hue, as if the water was filled with gasses. Though it was the skeleton of a massive sea creature that caught the teen's attention, yet it was mainly the fact that they were swimming into its mouth Sora groaned lightly.

'Ugh...didn't I just come out of a giant sea monster?' she thought with a heavy sigh while going through the mouth.

'Well, at least this one is dead.' Sora continued as she kept following the eels until they arrived in a section that was actually rather well lit.

This light radiated from the middle of the 'room', where a small, circular 'table' could be seem. It appeared to be flat on top, save for the spikes along the edge. Yet it was the center that seemed to let off a bright blue glow to light up the 'room'. All the while, the rest of the area seemed to be mainly purple in color and had a large crab-like shell embedded in the far wall.

"Ah...my dear Keyblade wielder." a voice spoke up from within the shell, which made the teen ready herself for a fight.

Not long after these words, a purple-skinned, heavy-set woman came out of the large hole in the shell. Her having short white hair, which appeared rather spiky and was styled upward. She also seemed to wear a thin black top, red lip stick, eye shadow and purple-colored gems for earrings. Though it was her jet black octopus legs for her lower body that mainly grabbed Sora's attention.

'Good thing I got to watch Donald practice. If she's anything like him when she swims, I might be able to figure out how to beat her in a 'one-on-one'.' the brown-haired girl thought to herself quickly while raising a brow at the woman.

"I'm sure you know who I am...and I certainly know who you are. So how about we skip introductions and go right down to business." Ursula stated as she moved her legs through the water to get closer to Sora.

Whom raised her weapon slightly for a possible attack, yet the woman merely smirked lightly and swam to the side. "Oh come now...I have no interest in fighting you just yet. I would actually like to work together with you on something first." she said while going toward a large clam to the side that was stuck in the wall.

Upon opening this, it revealed many containers and jars with strange ingredients within them. This just making the teen raise a brow in question, though she kept glancing over at the two eels as she noticed that they were occasionally swimming a bit closer.

"What makes you think that I would be willing to work with you at all? I don't care what you want, I only came here to ask a few questions. And I will get my answers out of you...one way or another." Sora all but growled out with heavily narrowed eyes.

Though she soon blinked to her own words as she hadn't intended to sound as cruel as she did. Yet this only made Ursula laugh lightly as she gathered up several ingredients and swam to the source of all the light in the room. "It's just as she said...the darkness in your heart will react once you've gotten close enough." the woman said, her tone sounding as if she was amused by this fact.

The brown-haired girl blinked once more as she slowly raised a brow in question; "What are you talking about? Close enough to what?" she demanded, her voice once again surprising her as it kept turning more and more angry.

"Why...my grotto of course. It's overflowing with darkness after all." the purple-skinned woman claimed as she looked to the teen with a small grin.

"What?!" was all Sora growled, her eyes flaring with rage before she closed them as if to try and hold this back.

"I'm sure you recall your meeting with Maleficent, do you not?" Ursula asked as she started smashing the containers into the light.

This causing the glow to rapidly change colors, as well as generate small torrents of water around the room. Though after a few moments, the glowing became a green and black flame that surged from the 'table', despite being underwater. Ursula then smirked to this and brought her hand into the flames before pulling it away moments later. Yet her appendage was still surrounded by the flames as she slowly came toward the teen.

While Sora kept her gaze on the woman, it was clear that her guard was down as her mind was starting to feel a bit cloudy. "What are you getting at?" the teen questioned with another growl in her voice.

"You've been cursed my dear...and this is where it'll serve its purpose." Ursula said with a small, yet sinister grin slowly curling her lips.

Immediately following her words, Sora brought her Keyblade forward to attack, yet her body suddenly stopped midway through. Both of the eels had wrapped themselves around her tightly to prevent the teen from moving, to which she ground her teeth in frustration. Though, despite her trying to think of a way to get free, the teen couldn't form a coherent thought in her mind. Sora's rage continued to grow uncontrollably, which blinded her from any rational thinking or planning.

"When I said that I would like to work together with you on something...I didn't mean that as in, 'you helping me willingly'." the purple-skinned woman stated as she slowly swam up to the teen. "I mean...you're going to help me, whether you want to or not."

"Now..." she continued before holding out her hand as the green and black flame seemed to grow the closer they got to Sora; "...to mix your curse with this spell Maleficent gifted to me."

After saying this, Ursula placed a hand to Sora's forehead, to which the teen's eyes widened in shock as her consciousness began to fade fast. Though as the flames touched her skin, they blazed around her whole body. This extending out and around the room as even Ursula had to swim back simply from the sheer force. Once these flames were absorbed into the girl's body, Sora had completely blacked out.

However, the teen's body still moved as she unsummoned her Keyblade and looked at Ursula with a lifeless gaze. Despite opening her mouth to speak, nothing seemed to come out as if she had forgotten how to talk. Yet this only made Ursula start grinning even wider than before as she swam back up to the brown-haired girl.

"And now...the perfect puppet has been created." the woman claimed before laughing loudly.

All the while, Donald, Goofy and Ariel were slowly swimming out through a secret passage out of the palace. Though, rather than the mermaid being at the front, it was Zola who was leading them on. It being clear from the glint in the young leopard's eyes, she had sensed something terrible was happening.

* * *

There you have it, the curse is being put into effect...now what will happen to Sora and her friends? Find out next time. ;) Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, after all...this is where things will start to really get crazy and show just how different this series is. So let me know in a review of what you thought of it. Until next time.


	33. Atlantica part III

Sorry for this chapter being so late, I had to get my midterms finished. I didn't pretty well, so now I'm free for the next week. ^^ Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. And make sure to keep reading till the end, cause while this is the last part for Atlantica...what happens after this ending will be referenced in the very next chapter. ;) Now then, on to the chapter.

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 33: Atlantica part III

Faster and faster they swam, not knowing what they would find as Donald, Goofy, Ariel and Zola continued on. Though as they came closer toward the area Ursula's grotto was located, the small 'cat-fish' seemed to become more and more restless. Each of the other three only being able to keep up with her because they were much bigger in size.

However, once they swam up toward the jaws of the large skeleton, they immediately stopped. Each of the four seeing Ursula coming through the water to meet them, to which she just grinning lightly. "Ah~, the King's lackeys and Triton's little baby girl." she muttered out in a taunting, yet amused tone.

"Ursula! What did you do?!" Ariel demanded as she narrowed her eyes on the sea witch.

"What ever do you mean?" the white-haired woman questioned back in a false innocent voice.

"We could all feel a shift in the waters around us." Ariel began, to which Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement.

"It was like a shadow was cast over the whole ocean." the former of this pair stated while summoning his magic staff.

"And since you're the only one who causes trouble in these waters, it's obvious that you had something to do with it." Ariel added, to which she slowly pulled Zola into her arms as said leopard was growling silently at the octopus-woman.

"Dear me...I suppose I underestimated the sheer amount of dark power she possesses." Ursula began with a light chuckle, to which she glanced to the side as Sora came swimming up beside her.

Upon seeing her, Ariel, Donald and Goofy each stared in shock. All of them noticing the lifeless gaze in the teen's eyes as she literally appeared more like a puppet than a living being. Yet despite this, Zola meowed silently as if to try and get Sora's attention. However, the brown-haired girl never so much as flinched as she just remained beside Ursula.

"But, oh well...her power is mine to control." the sea witch continued while gaining a devious and dark grin on her features.

"Sora, my dear..." the white-haired woman started, to which she gestured toward the four in front of them; "...get them out of my sight."

Once she said this, Sora slowly swam into the center group and summoned her Keyblade. Though, in watching all this, Donald looked the teen over for a few moments and narrowed his eyes. "She might have control over her body and powers, but she can only move as fast as Ursula can pull the strings." he muttered silently as he glanced to the others.

"But can we really fight Sora? I mean...she's our friend." Goofy said with great hesitation in his voice.

"It's because she's our friend that we have to fight her!" the duck claimed as he quickly swam back and away from a mildly fast swing of Sora's weapon.

"Wait..." Ariel began as she and the other two moved away from Sora, whom seemed only capable of sluggish movements.

"...she's being controlled by Ursula, which means if we beat her, we can free Sora." the red-haired teen finished silently, yet quickly as if hoping that Ursula wouldn't hear.

Though, this was for naught as said woman just chuckled lightly and waved her hand through the water. "Sora...use your magic to protect me! And then use it to destroy them!" she ordered out firmly.

Mere seconds after her words, the brown-haired teen snapped the fingers of her free hand. This creating a Reflega spell around the sea witch, as well as herself, to which she then brought her Keyblade forward. Donald gulped down briefly before he swam up in front of the others and created his own Reflera spell around all of them. Yet it soon shattered as Sora shot a Thundaga spell into the center, to which the energy it disbursed scattered all over the area.

Within seconds of her first attack, Sora then summoned four more Thundaga spells that nearly hit each of them. Though due to Ariel still holding Zola, she had to dodge away from two bolts of lightning at once. Her being thankful that she's a great swimmer as she held the baby leopard tightly, despite said 'cat-fish' fighting to get free.

Upon dodging these, Goofy quickly swam up toward Sora and hit the Reflega spell around her with his shield. Him doing this at the same time as Donald using a Blizzara from the side. Yet both attacks did no damage to the shield, which only shimmered lightly from the contact of their combined strikes.

"This is going to be tough." Goofy muttered silently with a gulp as both he and Donald swam slightly away from Sora.

"Never mind getting to Ursula, we might not even be able to get beyond Sora." the duck added with a slow nod in agreement to his friend's words, to which he glanced to the sea witch.

Whom was floating within the entrance of her grotto with a smug grin on her features. Yet, after these comments, they each had to move out of the way of a few more bolts of lightning. There being twice as many as before, which made it clear that Sora wasn't completely vacant and could still adapt to battle. Though it seemed as if this was at a much slower pace than normal, the large circle of electricity that suddenly appeared around the four proved otherwise.

"Oh boy." Goofy muttered with another gulp as Donald made his own comment of; "Haven't seen this technique before."

But just before the circle of lightning closed in around them with great speed, the duck formed a Reflera spell around them once more. Despite this shield shattering yet again, it prevented the Thundaga magic from hitting any of them.

"If anyone has a plan...make one quick, I don't know how many more of those I have in me." Donald said quickly as he started to breath a bit heavily, which showed just how much magic he used for that one spell.

Ariel looked from him, to Sora, to Ursula before finally down to Zola in her arms. Whom kept struggling as much as possible to get free, despite the fact that the mermaid barely put any effort into keeping her still. Though the teen soon blinked in light shock as the young leopard began to glow a bright yellow. All of the electrical magic Sora was producing was being absorbed into the cat.

This lead for Ariel to gave a small smile to the kitten and then whisper in her ear, which caused Zola to calm down and look up at the red-haired girl. Said teen just smiled with a nod as she released the 'cat-fish', to which she then swam up beside Donald and Goofy. Both of whom were readying for Sora's next attack as the brown-haired girl held out her free hand, which held a large orb of bright yellow magic.

"We only need to keep Sora distracted for a few more moments. So just follow my lead." Ariel whispered to them, her obviously adding herself as a target.

"What good will that do?" Donald questioned with a quick glance toward her.

"Don't worry...we'll be able to reach Ursula in no time." the red-haired girl stated confidently, to which she gained a small smile to reflect this further.

Though both of the others wanted to ask about this further, they just left it alone and immediately swam in different directions. This making Sora shift her vacant gaze to each of the three, to which the magic she gathered in her hand shot forward in three beams of electricity. These being three feet across as they surged through the water at great speed, though not fast enough to catch any of the three. It being clear that without enough focus, Sora couldn't follow any of them at the same time.

However, Ariel soon shifted her gaze to the side as she noticed how the beam intended for her had carved a hole right through a large rock formation. Yet she then looked in the opposite direction as she saw a bright light moving behind Ursula, which made her smirk lightly. "Just a little bit more." she muttered as she could feel the electricity in the water moving away from her.

"Hey Sora!" she called out with a small smirk, causing the younger teen to shift her gaze to stare at the red-haired teen.

"Try that one again!" were her finishing words as Ursula noticeably raised a brow in question.

"Hmph! Itching to die are we?" the sea witch asked with a small smirk, to which she crossed her arms.

"Fine then..." she continued while looking toward the brown-haired teen; "...take her down first!"

Sora didn't even bat an eyelash as she just raised her free hand once more and charged up her attack. Yet during this, Ursula just grinned lightly with a chuckle; "Foolish child. She thinks that just because she dodged out of the way of Sora's first attack, that she can get away from the full blast. But what she doesn't realize is that the real deal is three times faster and stronger than what she just faced." she whispered silently to herself.

Though she soon glanced around the area with a raised brow, her now noticing that neither Donald or Goofy were in sight. "Where did they swim off to?" she muttered.

But it wouldn't be long before this was answered as Goofy came swimming up from below with his shield out in front of him. All the while, Donald came down from above as a large surge of electrical magic surrounded his whole body and hit the top of Sora's Reflega spell. This creating a brief distraction for Sora as Ursula's own concentration was also broken.

Despite the large beam of Thundaga magic firing, it was slightly off target and allowed Goofy to push some of it up and away from Ariel as she barely had enough time to dodge. Upon the magic disbursing in the water, it invisibly surged to one place. Yet due to the spell around them, Ursula and Sora couldn't feel it. Though as the red-haired teen looked toward the sea witch, it was clear from her expression that she was irritated.

"Tch! You're all starting to get on my nerves!" Ursula exclaimed as her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Sora! Finish them all off now! Use your dark power to take them all out at once!" she ordered, to which a flurry of black energy surrounded the brown-haired teen.

"I don't think so." Ariel whispered with a small smirk as she looked from the white-haired woman, to the glow behind her as it became extremely bright.

"Now Zola!" she called out in the very moment that Ursula herself finally noticed the glow behind her.

This leading for the small leopard to suddenly rush forward and strike right through the shield around the woman, but also right through the witch herself. Yet upon doing so, the kitten's magic seemed to run out and stopped her just outside the other side of the Reflega spell. Which had quickly disbursed and released a huge amount of magic that was equal to the amount Zola herself had just used.

Ariel, Donald and Goofy all looking to this with wide eyes as the young cat was engulfed in a series of bursting orbs of magic. There being an echoing shriek of pain throughout the sea as, despite only lasting for a few brief seconds, it was like an eternity to those who witnessed. But once it was finally over, each of the three immediately swam as fast as they possibly could toward the limp kitten. Whom was slowly drifting toward the sea floor as the glow around her completely faded.

However, it was Sora who caught Zola and took her slowly into her arms. Said teen looking down at the kitten silently as tears welled up in her eyes, the curse being broken the moment she heard the leopard's cry. Yet the brown-haired teen trembled slightly as she still held a lifeless gaze, though it was for a different reason this time.

"Z-Zola?" she whispered out as the others came up around her, them understanding that she was back to normal...mostly.

When there was no reply from the kitten, Sora immediately began to cast Curaga over and over again. Her hoping that one of them would work as she desperately tried to heal Zola, whom was neither moving, nor breathing.

"No...please Zola..." Sora choked out as she kept using her magic continuously; "...don't die." was the last thing she could say before her tears fell from her eyes and joined with the water around her.

After many moments of silence, there was no change in Zola, which lead for all of them to understand what happened. This in turn making the brown-haired teen openly weep as she just held the kitten in her arms. Though during all of this, King Triton slowly swam over to the group. Him having seen the final moments of the fight from afar, to which he came over toward his daughter.

"You see? This is what I was afraid of. The Keyblade brings nothing but chaos, ruin and death." he muttered firmly.

Yet just as all of them turned to him with rage in their eyes, he brought his trident down toward Zola's body. "However...it doesn't mean that the one cursed with it should suffer." he whispered silently as both his weapon and the baby leopard's body began to glow brightly.

This making everyone, save for King Triton himself, to stare at this with blinking eyes. Though it was the hope in their gaze that truly made it worth while to see Zola slowly open her eyes and meow softly to Sora. Of which lead for her to just cry more, yet these were tears of happiness as she held the kitten tightly.

"I'll never let anything bad happen to you ever again!" she sobbed out as Zola merely cuddled up next to her happily.

King Triton gave a soft smile to this as he looked over to Sora's Keyblade, the teen having dropped it once she was free of the curse. 'I should have thought about the fact that it's the wielder that determines the effect the Keyblade will have.' he thought silently with a glance over toward Sora as Ariel, Donald and Goofy all hugged her tightly.

'And not the other way around.' he finished in his mind as a soft smile curled his lips.

Though after this thought, he glanced toward Ursula as the woman was on the sea floor desperately climbing back into her grotto. Her having barely survived the attack because of her own magic and the few potions she keeps with her at all times. 'I think I'll be asking her a few questions of my own.' King Triton thought as his eyes narrowed heavily on the woman.

* * *

And there you have it, I hope you all enjoyed. I know it didn't seem like much...but I actually got choked up during the part where I had Zola die. I based her off of my own cat, so it was really heart-wrenching just to write it. Anyway, let me know what all of you thought of it and look forward to the next world...which is usually a fan-favorite. ^^ Until next time.


	34. Halloween Town part I

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 34: Halloween Town part I

Even after an hour long interrogation, Ursula refused to give any information about the whereabouts of Hollow Bastion, or what Maleficent's plans were. However, when King Triton made a few threats that even had Sora trembling, the sea witch seemed a bit more compliant. Which lead for her to claim that while she wouldn't give away any information, there was one in their group who would be.

This bringing the group of Sora, Donald and Goofy to a town that seemed to be in near perpetual night. Though they had made a quick stop to Merlin's house to bring a sleeping Zola to him, they finally headed off on their way after a full half hour. The teen constantly going back into the hut immediately after leaving, her thinking that she heard Zola wake up and meow for her.

Yet when they finally landed on the world Ursula directed them to, the three saw that their appearances had been changed slightly. Donald's body was almost completely covered by mummy-like bandages with a gap where his stomach would be. Though there wasn't even a body visible in this area as if it were invisible. Goofy, on the other hand, appeared in the form of a Frankenstein-like version of himself, with a discolored nose and a few screws coming out of the sides of his head.

All the while, Sora's normal clothing had become quite different as well. Her now having a dark purple, tube-dress that had a tall, spiked collar which splayed out to the sides. Though the bottom of this garment also had a spiked design, it covered down to the middle of her thighs. The other noticeable feature about the dress were the large black stitching that could be seen in on the front and sides.

Sora also wore a cape over her shoulders, which was tied around her neck and reached down to the middle of her back. Next were her knee-high, striped socks that were black and white in color. Lastly, she had on a pair of black high-heels and a similarly colored witch's hat. The latter of which having a carved-pumpkin designed pin just above the brim.

As each of the three looked themselves over, they soon glanced at one another with wide grins on their features. "We look so cool." Sora said quickly, to which the other two just nodded as they were thinking the same thing.

However, they soon turned away from each other when they heard cheering off to the side. Them having arrived in the middle of a street that appeared to lead into a town of some sort. This being where all the noise was coming from as the three slowly walked toward and through the town's gates. Upon doing so, they saw a great many monsters and monster-like people gathered around what seemed to be the town square.

"And now, allow me to introduce to you...the master of terror~!" someone called out through a speaker phone from the side.

Them obviously being male from the sound of their voice as he continued on with his introduction; "The King of nightmares; Jack Skellington~!" he finished with great enthusiasm.

This lead for all of the people in the town to start clapping in response, though each of the three outsiders narrowed their eyes. Their gazes being fixed on the group of ghost-like Heartless floating down to the center of the square. Though rather than attacking, they seemed to move in a way that seemed almost like dancing. Of which signaled a very tall skeleton to emerge from the fountain in the center.

This skeleton was extremely thin with legs that were well over twice as long as his torso. Despite being an actual skeleton with no skin, hair or eyes, he seemed to be able to feel and see his surroundings just fine as he turned toward each of the clapping monsters around him. He then gave a smile in response to this as he struck a pose in his macabre black suit, which had with white pinstripes.

The top of said attire had a single white button, and a white shirt that was visible underneath. The coat tails of the suit reached to about knee-length, while his large, black bow-tie seemed be in the shape of a bat that had white veins in its wings and white eyes. Lastly, his black dress shoes were bizarrely small in comparison to the rest of his body, yet still seemed to fit well with his appearance.

"Bravo Jack~! Bravo~!" the man from before called out as he finally came into view from within the crowd.

Him being quite short and had on a black suit of his own with a spider-shaped tie and a very tall top hat on his head. Though the strangest part of him was that he had two faces opposite of each other on his head, both with different expressions and complexions. Yet after a brief conversation with this Jack Skellington, he then addressed the crowd and instructed them to get back to their work while he tends to the decorations.

Immediately following his instructions, the crowd began to thin out as they went back to their homes. Which finally allowed Sora, Donald and Goofy to think a bit further about what they just saw. "I don't know about letting the Heartless run around loose like this, but we do need to find that Oogie Boogie." Goofy muttered silently as he seemed to get right down to business.

"Right...but it doesn't look like there are that many Heartless here to begin with, so maybe one of us can stay here to make sure things will be alright...then the other two can find Oogie Boogie." Donald suggested as the other two slowly nodded in response.

Though Sora briefly looked to the side with a small smirk; "Although...it would be pretty cool to see the Heartless dance a bit more." she added in a quick chuckle, which made Donald and Goofy just glance to her with a heavy sigh.

"Maybe next time." Donald said while shrugging, to which he glanced to the others with a raised brow; "So..."

"...which one of us will stay behind?" Sora finished when the duck just let his words hang.

"Well...I guess I can stay. I am the best one at defending after all, right?" Goofy said, him gaining a small smile as Donald and Sora nodded their heads.

"Alright...we'll go and ask that short guy where this 'Oogie Boogie' is." the teen started with a confident smirk.

"But if you have any trouble over here, be sure to give us a signal by...um..." she continued, yet quickly looked down in thought.

"Here." was all Donald said while handing Goofy a small glowing orb.

"Crush that in your hand and toss it up into the sky. It'll make a bright light that can be seen for miles around, so we'll definitely notice." the duck finished as the dog nodded in response to his friend.

"Got it." Goofy said, to which they each gave one another a quick smirk and started rushing...all in the same direction.

"No...you were supposed to go in the opposite way." Sora whispered to the dog as they each stopped in unison.

Yet Goofy just blinked a few times and tilted his head to the side; "I was? But I was just going to the middle of the town so that I could keep a watchful eye."

Donald sighed to this and nodded; "I know...but you threw everything off." he muttered with a light groan.

"Gawrsh fellers, I didn't realize you were going this way too." Goofy said while scratching the side of his head.

"It's alright...we'll just have to work on our timing for the next one. After all...if we're going to be out doing missions to save the worlds, we gotta look good doing it. By separating at just the right time, it makes us seem that much cooler." Sora said, to which she smirked lightly as the other two slowly nodded their heads in response.

Though after her words, they each glanced around a bit awkwardly before the teen cleared her throat. "A-Anyway...we'll go find that guy. You start off with a search around the town, got it?"

"Got it." Goofy said with a quick salute, to which they all took another step in the same direction...again.

This making Sora sigh heavily before waving a hand as they all paused at the same time once more. "We'll work on this when we get back." she muttered before she and Donald rushed off on their way before Goofy could move.

After a few minutes of searching, the pair found the short man as he adjusted a few of the pumpkin-shaped coverings on the street lights. Though once they got close enough, the two noticed the red pin on his jacket that read 'Mayor' in the middle. Which made them glance to one another briefly and give a quick nod before walking up to this man.

"Hello, Mr. Mayor." the teen said silently, yet loud enough to gain his attention.

"Why hello to you too...are you all set for this year's Halloween?" the Mayor questioned with a wide smile on his features.

"Indeed we are. But there was something I was hoping to ask you before we got our stuff set up." Sora began with an innocent sounding voice.

"Of course~! You can ask me anything~!" was the man's response as Donald just blinked to the brown-haired girl, him wondering how she could make up such things so quickly.

"Just how close are we allowed to get without intruding in on Oogie Boogie's 'territory'?" the teen questioned as her innocent tone remained, to which she gained a small smile to match it.

"O-Oogie Boogie?" the Mayor echoed back as he all but jumped back at the sound of said person's name.

All the while, his head completely turned around to show the other, much paler face that seemed to have a frightened expression. Though after a moment he cleared his throat and switched back to the face that held a happy smile on it.

"W-Well...I'm glad you asked. We certainly wouldn't want to get too close to his 'Manor'." he continued on while gesturing to the side.

"The furthest we should ever go is the edge of the Pumpkin patch just outside of the town. It's a safe distance from Oogie Boogie's Manor." was the last thing he said before slowly turning back toward the teen and duck.

However, the moment he looked to them, they were both gone from sight. Of which made him blink many times in response and glance around to try and see where they went. "Well...so long as they heard me." he muttered silently before getting back to work.

Though before he could, the sound of electricity surging from one of the larger buildings was heard. Which made him blink a few times in question as he tilted his head up to look at this; "I wonder what Jack and Dr. Finkelstein are doing up there." he muttered silently.

Mean while, in the Pumpkin patch, Sora and Donald climbed up to the top of a strange hill. Of which had a long, curled tip that was leaning to the far side. "That must be it." the teen said as they saw a tall, yet bizarre 'tree-house' about a hundred yards away.

"Yeah..." Donald started before glancing around; "...but how do we get over there?"

Sora looked from him before to the tall fencing that blocked all access to getting beyond the Pumpkin patch. This making her sigh briefly and tap her chin a few times; "Hmm, if we had a running start...we could probably just jump over it from the top of the hill." she whispered before looking to Donald.

'Then again...he'll probably lose quite a bit of speed along the way since his short legs won't get him up the hill very fast.' she thought to herself, which lead for the duck to look at her suspiciously as if knowing she was basically insulting him inside of her mind.

Yet the teen just cleared her throat and waved a hand to him; "Don't worry...we can just use some Aero magic to blast ourselves to the other side and then again to cushion our fall.." she stated with a small smirk.

Donald raised a brow to her for a moment before he let out a breath and nodded his head; "Alright, let's give it a try."

Though, after just a few moments, both of them wished they hadn't agreed, much less thought of the idea. Everything had went perfectly until they fell right into a deep ditch, rather than onto the bridge that lead across it. Despite managing to stop herself before falling into the water running across the bottom, Sora still landed hard on her behind as she hit a ledge on one of the trench's sides.

"Ow..." she groaned out silently while standing up; "That's the last time I use wind to go anywhere."

"Agreed." Donald squawked out while quickly hitting the sides of his head to get the water out of his ears.

"Alright...now to climb back up." Sora said as she looked up to the top of the gully.

They then jumped from ledge to ledge on either side of the ditch to get to the other side of the bridge. But while the teen made it, Donald slipped on the last jump and ended up right back in the water. This made Sora smile sheepishly to him and just gesture for him to try again. "I'll catch you in midair this time, just in case." she said with an almost amused smile.

These words just making the duck throw a fit by squawking out insults and jumping up and down in the water over and over. Sora giggled lightly in seeing this as she just watched Donald make his second attempt to get up and out of the trench. However, the teen suddenly heard foot steps behind her, to which she quickly spun around with her hand out and ready to summon her Keyblade.

Upon turning, she immediately saw a black hooded figure standing only a few yards away from her. "Who are you?" she whispered while bringing forth her weapon.

Yet after her words, the figure simply held out a hand; "It seems you really are the final piece." was all they said in a young, yet familiar male voice.

"Huh?" Sora questioned, but her attention was quickly stolen away as Donald jumped up beside her.

"See?! I told you I could do it myself!" he claimed firmly with a huff.

Though by the time the teen had turned her gaze back toward the figure, he was gone. Which made her eyes narrow slightly and dismiss her Keyblade; 'The final piece...to what?' she questioned in her mind as Donald simply asked her if something was wrong.

* * *

And there you have it. But who was it that spoke to Sora? I'm sure you all have an idea, but is it really him? Possibly...maybe...you never know~. XD Anyway, thank you all for reading, I appreciate every favorite, follow and review you give to this story. So let me know what you thought of this chapter and I hope you're looking forward to more. Until next time.


	35. Halloween Town part II

Alright, now for the next chapter. I was almost going to end this world in this chapter, but I figured that I'd add a bit more to the overall story so that all of you can have extra stuff to think about. ;) So I hope all of you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 35: Halloween Town part II

"No, you see..." Sora began as she and Donald came closer and closer to Oogie Boogie's manor.

"...those two openings are the 'eyes' and that area below, with all the connecting bars, would be the 'mouth'." she explained while pointing to a section of the large 'tree-house'.

"Hmm." Donald hummed out with a tilt of his head to either side.

"I still don't really see the face." he continued before shrugging his shoulders.

The teen simply sighed lightly, to which she mimicked his actions as they crossed the bridge leading inside of the 'manor'. Though as they reached the entrance, Sora gave a quick glance toward her friend before examining the structure they were about to go through.

'Good thing I distracted him with that 'spot the face' game. I don't really wanna tell him I saw someone just now. I mean...even I don't know who he was, or even what he meant by his words. But his voice...' she thought silently, yet didn't continue as she looked down near the base of the tree.

"Hmm...that looks like a secret entrance." she stated while pointing down toward the door within the side of the tree.

"Guess so." Donald began, though he soon huffed and raised a feathered brow; "But it's not much of a secret if it has a bright green face painted on it."

Sora chuckled a nodded her head in response; "Yeah...either this guy is an idiot, or he likes to show off." she muttered silently with a brief sweat drop.

"Or both." the duck added as the two then jumped down to the tree's base, directly in front of the door.

However, neither of them approached it right away as they quickly took notice of the guillotine that made up the door's frame. "Maybe he's not a complete idiot after all." Sora whispered, though she soon held out her hand and sent a burst of ice magic into the entrance.

This had froze the entire door, including its frame as the blade at the top was stuck in place. "That'll make it much easier to get through with our heads intact." she continued silently before carefully reaching out and pushing the door open.

Yet she did this with every intention of quickly pulling her hand away if there was anything that might signal the blade sliding down. Though this fear quickly passed as she then jumped through the opening and gestured for Donald to do the same. Once he had, the two moved through the rather dark area until they reached a room that seemed to be mainly lit up by the glow-in-the-dark designs on the walls, ceiling and floor.

Though there were also a few pumpkins that were producing some light, it was mainly these designs that illuminated the area. This allowed the two to quickly notice a large figure off to the side rolling a set of dice onto a table right in front of him. "That darn Maleficent better have something good for me to do soon or I'll have to start entertaining myself!" the person spoke in an obviously male, yet somewhat very annoyed-sounding voice.

"Then again...the 'Oogie' kind of entertainment is always the best kind." he continued before letting out a laugh at his own words.

Sora narrowed her eyes on this being as it was clear that he was who they were looking for. Him looking like a humanoid-shaped, burlap sack with cut out eyes and mouth. Though, the tip of his 'head' was extended a bit further that the once that made up his 'hands' and 'feet'. Yet it was a bit of a mystery of what his rather large 'body' was filled with, that was until a few insects suddenly crawled out of one of the holes for his eyes and into his mouth.

"Ugh..." Sora muttered with a clearly nauseated expression; "...I think I'm gonna be sick." she continued in a whisper as Donald merely rolled his eyes at her.

"Come on, we've got him all on his own...so lets take him down." the duck claimed in a silent voice as he clearly still planned to sneak up on their opponent.

"Hold on." Sora said quickly before she pulled him, and herself, into a small shadowed spot out of sight.

Upon doing so, Donald immediately began thrashing to get free, but soon calmed down when he heard the sound of foot steps approaching. As they finally reach the room, the only other occupant in the room finally took notice of the sound and turned to the three that came up to him. "Ah, finally!" he began with a relieved tone.

"Lock..Shock..and Barrel, I do hope you've brought me some Oogielicious news to cure my boredom." he continued while looking to each of the trio as he said their names.

While they all appeared to be children, they each had on a different Halloween-type garment to separate them visually. Lock had a devil-type wear, Shock had a witch's outfit, and Barrel seemed to be mimicking a skeleton. Though, these costumes were even more noticeable considering the masks they wore corresponded with them.

"We sure did Oogie Boogie!" Shock began quickly while raising a small hand.

"That's right! We found out Jack is making a heart for the Heartless!" Lock added while pointing back the way they came as if gesturing toward Halloween Town.

"Yeah! And he wanted to use it to make the Heartless-" Barrel was about to include, yet he was cut off as Oogie Boogie started to laugh.

"A heart? That bonehead Jack is really making a heart?" he questioned before laughing a bit more, which made each of the three start to tremble in front of Oogie.

"I'll be jiggered. That works for me!" he continued while placing his 'hands' to his sides.

Oogie then turned himself to the side and continued on with a highly enthusiastic tone; "Oh~ when I get my hands on that..." he stated before looking down at his 'limbs'.

"Well I've got no hands. But I'm still gonna nab that heart and control the Heartless!" he proclaimed before laughing once more.

Though while he said all this, the three just continued trembling on the floor while hugging each other tightly. This led for Oogie to look at them after a moment and clear his throat; "Hello~?! That's your cue! Go and get me that heart!" he ordered out, to which the trio quickly nodded and ran out with a 'Yes Oogie Boogie!'

Once they were gone, said being just started to laugh once more; "Oh~! I can just picture it now! Legions of Heartless just lining to do my bidding! Then I'll show Jack who's the real boss of Halloween Town and the true King of Terror!" he proclaimed loudly to seemingly no one, him then spinning himself around in a 'pre-victory' celebration.

However, it was after he stopped, that he saw Sora and Donald right in front of him with crossed arms. This made him yelp in fright, fall backward and quickly inch himself away from the two. "W-Who are you and how did you get in here?!" he demanded, yet his voice was a bit squeaky considering his recent fright.

But before either of them could respond, Oogie suddenly stood up and looked at Sora with what seemed to be surprise. "What a minute! You're the brat with the Keyblade! I thought you were supposed to be Maleficent's puppet by now!" he claimed as if he were accusing her of doing something she shouldn't have.

"So you knew about that plan, huh?" Sora questioned with a small smirk as she could tell just from his reaction and words that he would definitely tell them what they wanted to know.

"Eh?" Oogie let out before placing his 'hands' over him mouth, him realizing that he said something he shouldn't have.

"Too late to stay silent now Oogie Boogie...you're going to tell us everything we want to know. Or else we're squashing every single bug you've got stuffed in that bag you call a body, one at a time." the teen growled out as her eyes narrowed in order to deliberately intimidate him.

This seeming to work as he gulped down in response and glanced from side to side nervously; "A-Alright alright...I'll tell you." he started while inching to the side.

"Just let me get my wits about me and I'll-" was all he got out before the lower half of his body was suddenly froze in place by ice.

"Don't even think about it." Sora stated as she glanced down at the button just below Oogie's foot, him meaning to step on it and activate what she only assumed was a trap.

"Now...if you don't start talking...I'm going to start using some fire. And I'm sure we both know that bugs don't handle flames very well." she continued while coming up in front of Oogie once more.

Whom gulped down once more and just nodded his head quickly in response without saying a word. Though after a few minutes of conversation, they learned the location of Hollow Bastion quite easily. Yet there was little more information he had, him having been left out of most of Maleficent's plans due to his lack of 'usefulness'. Oogie only catching wind of the 'curse plan' because Maleficent and Ursula reassured him that Sora wouldn't ever reach his world.

This lead for Donald to walk outside in order to use the Gummi ship so that he could send the location of Hollow Bastion to Leon and the others. Yet the moment Donald had left, Sora then started her own questioning for Oogie; "What has Maleficent been having Riku do for her?" was the first thing she demanded as her eyes took on a much more dangerous glint than before.

After asking this, Oogie Boogie seemed to go silent for a moment, yet he then spoke up in a strangely confident tone. "Are you sure you wanna know, kid?"

"Yes...I do." the brown-haired girl responded immediately, her eyes narrowing on the sack of bugs.

"Well...she's been having him go around to other worlds kidnapping the 'Princesses' that Maleficent claims are needed." he began, which made Sora noticeably clench her jaw.

Even though she figured that this was the case, to hear confirmation was a devastating blow on its own. Yet Oogie merely chuckled as he continued on with an even more confident voice; "And of course...we've had him going around doing some odd jobs like turning people into Heartless."

"W-What?!" Sora nearly stuttered out in shock as she obviously hadn't even considered this to be a possibility.

"Well...I doubt he did it knowingly, but he was sent around to stir up some trouble. Which then spread fear to those worlds...and that draws out the Heartless like a moth to a flame." Oogie Boogie said before letting out an amused laugh.

"He probably didn't even know that he lead for so many more people being turned into Heartless~! Which only added to our forces~!" he all but sang out while he chuckling to himself.

Sora narrowed her eyes on him with anger, though Oogie was too distracted to notice as he seemed preoccupied with his own laughter. Though despite wanting to take her rage on the somewhat unsuspecting bag of bugs, she just looked to the side as she could hear Donald coming back. "Alright...one more question." she whispered in order to gain Oogie's attention once more.

"Huh?" was all he could muster as he was surprised she that she didn't appear to be more emotionally shaken.

"What do you know about a man in a hood?" she asked quickly, though instantly after getting an answer, Donald came back into the room.

Sora was now standing a few feet away from Oogie Boogie with a thoughtful gaze, while said being was still frozen in ice from his bottom half. Despite him thinking that someone might have happened while he was gone, he didn't press the issue and spoke up with a clearing of his throat.

"I let everyone know our discovery. Apparently, Leon is sending two guys there in order to scout out the area so that we can sneak in, as well as to learn more about what Maleficent is up to." the duck said with his gaze directly one Sora at the end.

"But before we go there, Merlin wants to you come see him again." he continued with a shrug, this showing that the old wizard didn't inform Donald what it was about.

The teen blinked a few times to him before nodding her head in response, to which she then glanced toward Oogie as he had fallen completely silent. Yet she soon looked to the side as they all heard something falling down a tube, which stretched up through the ceiling. This made Sora and Donald blink a few times, yet soon became wide-eyed when a vile of some sort of purple liquid come flying out of a hole in the side of the wall. This immediately going right into one of Oogie Boogie's 'hands' as if he had to be in that exact spot to get it.

Upon watching this, the pair quickly looked down at Oogie's 'foot', which had inched its way through the ice and to the button he intended to step on from the start. "Aha! Game over!" he exclaimed in a victorious sounding voice, to which he immediately drank the liquid.

"A little parting gift from Maleficent and Ursula in case I ever found myself in trouble." he said with a chuckle, though this slowly stopped as he felt his whole body shaking.

"W-Wait! What's going on?! This isn't what they promised!" he quickly called out as his body began to expand with a large aura of darkness surrounding him.

Sora and Donald quickly rushed out of the room and then outside as Oogie was growing too large. Though once they left, they saw that the entire 'manor' was taking on a black aura as it felt 'evil' somehow. "What in the world did they have him drink?" the brown-haired girl questioned silently as they saw the whole tree shifting its form in the moonlight.

"Whatever it was...it's not good." Donald said with a light gulp, to which his suspicions came true when they saw the top of the tree take on a form that looked ominously similar to Oogie Boogie's head.

"It's definitely not good." Sora added with a gulp of her own, this being the largest enemy she's ever seen, aside from the whale that swallowed them a few days back.

* * *

So then, who are these two Leon sent? How will Sora and Donald fight Oogie Boogie on their own? And just what do you call Oogie's 'limbs'? Like seriously? 'Appendages'? A 'branch'? I haven't a clue. *Ehem* Anyway, I hope all of enjoyed and will look forward to the fight next chapter. ;) It's been a while since i've had a good 'epic' fight, so I'm gonna do my best to make it awesome. ^^ Let me know what all of you thought with this one. Until next time.


	36. Halloween Town part III

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 36: Halloween Town part III

Sora looked up with determination in her gaze narrowed at the huge opponent that she and Donald were facing. The entire tree that had once been Oogie Boogie's manor was now twisted even more so than it had been before. It contorting around the enormous body that the owner of the manor currently possessed, which blocked out all of the moonlight from the sky.

"Maybe I should call for Goofy." Donald muttered silently as his tone seemed to be adding; 'Cause we're going to need all the help we can get.'.

Though the brown-haired teen glanced to him briefly, she soon turned toward Oogie Boogie's new form. "I think I agree with you on this one." she whispered, yet got into a fighting pose rather than a defensive one.

"But lets try our luck first." Sora continued, her eyes narrowing further as the glint in her eyes became one of excitement.

Donald looked at her with blinking eyes for a moment, yet he just sighed and shrugged it off. "I guess we could see what type of attack works best on him." he muttered while taking on his own fighting pose.

"My thoughts exactly." the teen said, her slowly gaining a small grin on her features as she quickly rushed forward with her Keyblade in hand.

"Thundra!" the duck called out, sending many bolts of lightning down on Oogie's head immediately afterward.

However, both Sora and Donald quickly noticed that this attack hadn't done any damage of any kind. This leading for the former of the pair to jump up onto the ledges and stairs remaining from the manor's old appearance. Her going up as high as possible until she reach the shoulder of the large opponent, whom slowly turned his massive head to look at her.

"Lets see if any types of magic work on you." she whispered before shifting her body to the side.

The brown-haired girl then raised her Keyblade behind her and pointed it in the opposite direction of her opponent. Upon doing this, Sora's body began to glow and surge with a great many colors of magic. Though while bending her knees, she brought her free hand out and used two fingers to draw an 'S'-like shape through the air. During of which, six spheres of different colors were formed in the path of her fingers.

Once she reached the end, her Keyblade was raised high in the air and her free hand had its two fingers pointing at the floor the other way. All the while, the orbs that formed were held in place by a white line of pure magic to form the full 'S'. "Not to say Donald's method wouldn't work...this is just easier." Sora whispered with a small smirk.

"Magic Blitz." she continued as each of the spheres instantly blasted into the side of Oogie's face.

Though there was a heavy shockwave from the attack, this seemed to be the only thing that caused Oogie Boogie to move. Him remaining completely unaffected by any of the magic Sora had used, which had been every offensive type she knew of. Seeing this caused her to quickly narrow her eyes in frustration, the teen not expecting for there to be so little effect.

However, she didn't get to dwell on this for long as many spheres of darkness suddenly started to swarm out of every crack and crevice within Oogie's body. Each of these quickly rushing toward the girl as it was clear her opponent was starting his counterattack. This leading for Sora to quickly jump down from his shoulder and land on the ground below with an Aero spell to slow her decent.

"I guess that solves our question of what works on him, huh?" Donald muttered as both he and Sora began to block the dark spheres, all of them still giving chase after the brown-haired teen.

"Looks that way...but I never would have guessed that he'd be completely immune to magic." Sora responded before forming a Reflega spell around both her and her duck friend.

"Well, he did mention both Maleficent and Ursula made that potion he drank. So I'm sure between the two of them, they could make something like that." Donald theorized as he continuously fixed his partner's spell, it starting to crack every few hits on its surface.

"Makes sense...but now what? Both of us are mainly magic users, and while I can hit pretty hard...I don't even know where to start hitting this guy." Sora said, her tone showing that she was very unsure at the moment of what to do.

But following her words, both she and the anthropomorphic duck looked down in thought as neither of them seemed to know what to do in order to beat this opponent. Yet within a few brief seconds, Sora suddenly blinked a few times and literally smacked her own forehead. "Duh...I can us the power of darkness too." she chuckled out with a wink before walking out of her own barrier.

'I have been meaning to test out just how much my dark power has increased since absorbing that Heartless.' she thought to herself while seeming to be casually walking toward the almost motionless Oogie.

While doing so, her eyes changing into their usual gold and a huge aura of dark power began to surround her body. However, after just a few more steps she immediately stopped and her eyes widened as if in shock of something. "What the..." was all she managed out before falling to her knees.

"Okay..." she strained out while the aura around her blazed like a wild fire that disbursed the attacking spheres coming toward her.

"...I think that thing gave me a much bigger boost than I was expecting." the teen continued as her limbs began to shake from trying to contain her own power.

'I knew it increased all of my other powers, but it seems like it did so even more to 'this' one.' Sora thought as her eyes closed tightly.

'I just need to dial it back enough for me to get control over it again.' she continued without ever noticing the Heartless-like shape her dark powers formed, there being a set of golden eyes that appeared over her her head.

Though this slowly began to vanish as the brown-haired girl slowly, but surely, pulled her powers back enough to balance them out once more. Yet it was too late for Donald not to have seen everything that happened, him looking at her with widened eyes for a long while. However, they slowly narrowed in suspicion as he quickly figured out that something happened while she was alone at some point and hasn't told anyone.

"Alright...I think I've got this down." Sora muttered with a heavy sigh, to which she looked at Oogie Boogie with a smirk.

Said being appeared to have also seen and understood what just occurred, which had made him a bit frightened to attack right away. But it didn't take him long to remember to do this as he immediately increased the size and speed of the spheres. Although this took Sora off guard for a brief second, it wasn't long enough for her to be hit by any of these.

The manner in which she dodged these attack however, was quite shocking as she literally seemed to vanish from sight before appearing a few yards away. It being clear that rather than any sort of teleportation, she was simply moving at such great speed that the normal eye couldn't follow her. Yet even while Donald and Oogie were shocked from this, Sora actually seemed even more so.

"Whoa...I thought I had to learn some kind of trick to move this fast...but it's just coming natural to me now." she whispered with blinking eyes while looking down at her feet.

Immediately after she looked up, the teen's grin returned and she began rushing around at top speed to throw off her opponent. Him not being able to keep up with her at all until she almost instantly appeared directly in front of his face and swung her Keyblade at him. Said weapon being coated in darkness as it connected with great force against Oogie Boogie's head.

Despite not expecting much to happen, Sora's eyes widen in complete shock when her strike literally knocked her opponent over and onto his back. She then slowly fell to the ground and almost began feeling bad for Oogie as he let out shrieks of pain from the huge hole in his head. This making Sora look down to her Keyblade, then to her free hand and slowly narrow her eyes in suspicion.

'Something isn't right...there shouldn't be any reason why Darkness would effect him to that degree when he himself is using it. Then again...if they could make him immune to magic...' she thought while Donald slowly walked up beside her.

"I gotta say...I didn't expect that." he muttered, him not wanting to bring up the recent events since he knew it wasn't the right time.

"Nor did I." Sora whispered as she slowly shifted her gaze back to Oogie as his massive form rose back up thanks to the roots remaining in the ground.

"But I think it's best if I finish this quickly." she continued, the teen not wanting to make her opponent suffer as he had from her previous attack.

The brown-haired girl then gestured for Donald to step back as she shifted her body to the side. Once her friend was a safe distance, a large amount of dark energy began to form around Sora's Keyblade. Though after the aura stopped growing, the teen flipped the weapon in a reverse grip and narrowed her eyes.

'If my suspicion is correct, then I only need about this much power to beat him.' she thought to herself before quickly throwing her Keyblade toward the center of her opponent while uttering; "Shadow Raid."

As the blade spun around through the air, Sora then whispered in an almost hopeful tone; "Expand."

Immediately following this, the black aura around it suddenly expanded to such a size that even Oogie himself was slightly dwarfed. As this occurred the darkness sliced right through the teen's opponent before the Keyblade itself even reached him. This leading for it to then spin through the large split in Oogie Boogie's body and then come right back to its master within seconds.

Upon the teen catching her weapon, Oogie instantly disbursed without screaming of any kind. Of which made Sora let out a sigh of relief and look up to the moon as if it was her first time noticing it. 'Maleficent and Ursula must have known I'd come here eventually. They might not have known that it would be after their plan to control me, but they did know that I'd come here and fight against him.' she thought as her eyes continued to stay fixed on the moon, even as Donald came rushing over to her.

'It's likely they wanted to get me to use my dark powers more often so that it would be easier to control me.' the girl mused, to which she soon blinked a few times when a glow could be seen on the ground in front of her.

As Sora shifted her gaze to this, she saw the world's keyhole, which made her blink many more times in response. 'Did he build his manor here deliberately? Or was it an accident?' she thought quickly before she just lifted her Keyblade up and locked it as she had with all the others.

"Well...at least this one was easier to find than the last one." Donald muttered with a sigh, to which Sora chuckled and nodded in agreement.

"I know right? Though, I guess it was a good idea for King Triton to make it so that only a trident-shaped object could unlock it." she said silently, her giving a brief shrug as the keyhole before them quickly vanished once it locked.

But once it was, Sora soon tilted her head down while blinking her eyes once more. Though this time, she did this in a bit of shock from something she just realized; 'I hadn't even noticed until now, but...I started this journey with only the thought of finding Riku and Kairi. All while sealing the keyholes to each of the worlds I visited during my search. But now...' she started in her mind as she let out a light sigh.

'...I'm trying to get Riku to trust me again, get Kairi's heart back to wherever her body is and defeat an evil organization who has a goal I don't even know about. Sealing up these keyholes seems like an afterthought now...even if they're basically the most important part of my job right now.' the blue-eyed girl continued, which lead for Donald to look at her with a questioning gaze.

Yet before he could ask her anything, Goofy suddenly came running over along with the Jack Skellington that they has seen from the town. "Hey fellers~!" the anthropomorphic dog called out while rushing over to them.

"My goodness...are all of you okay?" Jack asked once he and Goofy arrived in front of the other pair.

Sora blinked a few times before nodding her head in response; "Of course~! No sweat." she announced happily as she gave a thumbs up.

However, within seconds of her doing this, everything went black for the teen as she suddenly passed out. This greatly alarming each of them as Donald and Goofy started calling out her name in great worry. All the while, Jack just stared in shock of this, yet he quickly took notice of a strange hooded figure out in the distance. Whom suddenly vanished into the shadows before Jack could get a good look at him; "Who on earth was that?" the living skeleton whispered to himself as his eye holes seemed to narrow slightly.

* * *

There we are, Halloween Town is finished and the end of this piece of the story is coming. I hope all of you are still enjoying, let me know if you are, and stay tuned for the next chapter one week from now. Unless you're reading this after I've already posted the next chapter...in which case...what are you waiting for~? ;) Anyway, until next everyone.


	37. Traverse Town part VI

I apologize for the later update, so I'll just say that I hope you enjoy and get on with the story. ;)

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 37: Traverse Town part VI

Sora slowly opened her eyes as she regained consciousness, but she felt a bit groggy and couldn't quite focus her gaze at first. However, she could still feel the fact that she was laying on her side and that she had a thin blanket covering her. Yet as the girl's vision started to clear, she saw Merlin sitting beside the bed she was laying on.

Said man had a pan of cold water in front of him as he dipped a small towel into it and wrung it out a few times. However, just beyond him was Donald arguing with Archimedes, while Goofy tired to calm them both down. All the while, the rest of the room had other people scattered in various areas, but they all seemed to have the expression of worry on their features. This group consisting of Leon, Yuffie, Aerith and Cid, the latter two of whom Sora had met after she made her agreement with Riku in Traverse Town.

Cid himself had short blond hair, which was pulled back with a few spikes in the front. His eyes were blue and held some stubble on his chin, which seemed to show his age a bit. The man's attire consisted of a white T-shirt with two buttons descending from the neck, as well as baggy blue pants and a very wide orange waistband. This gave the appearance of his pants being worn rather high, as the waistband came up to just under his rib-cage. Cid also had on a set of grey socks, black shoes and a pair of green goggles placed on his head. Lastly, there was a necklace with a rectangular charm around his neck and even a long toothpick sticking out of the front of his mouth.

Aerith on the other hand had on a pink dress with magenta lining and buttons going down the front. All of which were buttoned, save for the last two at the bottom. She also had on brown boots, as well as a black string in a bow around her neck, this seeming to function as a necklace. The woman also held a lilac belt around her waist with another black string tied in the same fashion as the one around her neck. Her eyes were a bright green, which made a nice contrast with her long brown hair. These locks having been styled into a braid leading down her back, plus had curls on either side of her face.

Though, as the brown-haired girl glanced around to everyone, she gave a soft smile. "Wow...what a turn out." the girl muttered in a slightly groggy voice as she was still just regaining consciousness.

"Ah! She's awake!" Merlin called out quickly as everyone's attention immediately went to Sora.

Whom sat herself up in the bed after pulling the blanket away, to which she looked to all of the people around her and widened her smile. "All of you came here just to see how I was doing?" she asked silently with a slight tilt of her head.

"Of course." a voice spoke up from the outside of the hut, to which everyone turned their attention toward the cloth over the doorway.

"After these two told us about you suddenly passed out..." they continued, to which the cloth lifted up to reveal Cloud, which slightly shocked Sora.

"...there was no way we wouldn't come to see you." the blond man finished as he took a few steps inside before stopping and crossing his arms.

"You came here too?" Sora all but squeaked out with blinking eyes, her still being a bit surprised.

"I happened to be passing by when I saw your friends carrying you down here. I'm an acquaintance of theirs as well..." the blond man started with a gesture to each of the other humans.

"...so I figured that I'd come and see what was going on." he said with a shrug, yet soon received a nudge from a smiling Aerith.

"And?" the woman urged as she tilted her head to the side, which made Cloud just sigh heavily in response.

"And...I guess I was a bit worried about you, so I wanted to make sure you were okay." he said, yet didn't make eye contact as he just let out another, yet even heavier sigh.

"He also scouted out the area to make sure you guys weren't being followed. As well as defeated any Heartless in the area, so that they wouldn't disturb us." Aerith added, her smiling lightly between Cloud and Sora.

"That's where he was for the last half hour." she continued while nudging the blond's side once more.

Sora looked to the man with a small smile, before glancing around to the others as well. "Thanks you guys." she whispered, yet made sure to be loud enough that they could hear her.

Yet she soon looked up in thought for a few moments, to which she then shifted her gaze back to everyone else. "Actually...that makes me wonder, how long was I out for?" she asked with blinking eyes.

"Hmph...coulda been days for all we know." Cid started with a shrug; "They didn't mention how long they were traveling before they got here."

After his words, Donald huffed in response as this clearly indicated some miscommunication between them when they first arrived. This making Sora wish she knew the story behind it, yet she just decided to drop the issue and turn to the wizard as he answered her. "Only a few hours." he stated while drying the water from his hands, now that there was no need to place another cool towel on Sora's forehead.

"Though, while you were asleep..." he continued silently, his tone indicating that he was going to discuss something serious.

"...I'm afraid I took the liberty of forming a link into your subconscious." the old man said as many of the others looked to the side, each of them knowing about this.

Sora blinked at his words at first before to everyone's expressions, her quickly deducing that it must have been a discussion between them before it occurred. But this merely lead for her to then turn back to Merlin as if hoping for an explanation as to what he meant. Despite the old wizard tilting his head down, it was apparent that he didn't entirely regret the decision.

"Well...we all held the suspicion that you had started hiding things from us. So unfortunately...our curiosity got the better of us and we agreed that I would enter your mind with my magic and find out what it is you've been keeping to yourself." he explained further, which made the teen's eyes widen for a moment.

"While I only told what was vital...I would like to have a discussion with you about a few other things." Merlin continued with a hushed tone before clearing his throat.

"S-So...which things did you tell everyone about?" Sora asked with a light gulp, her clearly worried that everyone knew about her absorbing the power of a Heartless, or even the fact that she could control the Heartless in the first place.

"Well...the first things I made mention of were the hooded figures you saw on both your island and in Halloween Town." Merlin started, yet he soon waved a hand to his own words.

"However, even we couldn't figure anything out about their identities...so we'll just have to figure out who they are as we go. But it's important that we know since they seem to be beings that understand much more than we ourselves do." he continued with a clearing of his throat.

"Next, I informed everyone about the fact that Riku is apparently working to Maleficent. But it's very likely that she's deceiving him into doing so, therefore, we've all agreed to leave him to you when the attack on Hollow Bastion is made." the wizard stated as he offered Sora a quick nod of his head to show that he was being genuine about his statement.

"And lastly...I did mention the fact that you..." Merlin began, which lead for the brown-haired teen to gulp down in nervousness.

"...have Kairi's heart inside of you." he finished, causing Sora to immediately blink in response and let out a sigh of relief.

"Y-Yeah...but I never said anything because..." the teen started, yet paused as she tilted her head down.

"No need to explain your reasoning to us Sora." Leon stated as he stepped forward a few paces.

"The only reason why he told us is because of the fact that Maleficent seems keen on returning your friend's heart to her body as well. But considering that witch only does things to further her own goals, it's likely your friend Kairi has something that she wants." the man continued with a serious tone, him narrowing his eyes slightly.

"So as much as you want to get Kairi back to normal...I would suggest you to wait until we have at least figured out why Maleficent wants her so badly." he finished silently, to which Sora slowly nodded her head in response.

"Anyway..." Merlin began once more while clearing his throat; "...now that we have a bit more solid information, our advance team will have something to be on the look out for."

"Right..." Sora whispered as she hung her head down for a few moments; "...but who is in this 'advance team'?" she questioned with a slight tilt of her head to the side as her gaze met everyone else's.

"You'll be meeting up with them soon." Cloud started, him waving his armor-covered hand.

"Don't worry...they're old 'acquaintances' of mine, so they'll definitely be able to help." he continued, to which Sora just blinked once more before nodding slowly.

"Well...alright." the teen muttered as she turned back to Merlin; "So when do we leave?"

"Donald and Goofy will be leaving quite shortly with Leon and Yuffie." the old man started with a clearing of his throat.

"Cloud and Aerith will be ready to leave once Cid has finished his modifications to their ship." he continued, which received a huff from the toothpick chewing man.

Sora raised a brow to this for a few moments before clearing her throat and tilted her head. "And...what about you and I?"

"We shall be traveling via my magic. However, there are some things I wish to discuss with you...in private." he claimed, his tone making him sound like a parent ready to scold their child.

This caused everyone else in the room to just slowly walk out of the hut, despite the helpless expression on the teen's features. Though once they were all gone, Sora gulped down and smiled sheepishly to the elder wizard. "S-So...nice weather down here, huh?" was all she could think to say in a nervous voice.

Merlin merely let out a breath to this before waving a hand; "I won't ask you to explain why you didn't tell anyone about the things that were going on, but really should have told me about your dark powers and the effects it was having on you." he began, his tone sounding more worried now than anything else as he made sure that it was silent enough so no one outside the hut could hear him.

"The power of darkness is dangerous, even if you were technically chosen by it. There is no less of a danger to you than anyone else who wields that power." Merlin continued as he seemed to go between having a firm voice, to a softer one.

"But I don't want to yell at you about it...I just want you to know that you shouldn't feel the need to keep such things to yourself. We're all your friends Sora, you can trust us not to judge you or think any differently of you with information such as 'that'." he finished while slowly smiling toward the teen.

"I know that...but..." the brown-haired girl whispered as she tilted her head down once more.

"We might know and understand the right answers in our minds, but it doesn't mean that we have the strength to act on them on our own." Merlin said with a small smile curling his bearded features.

"That is why our friends are so important...they give us that strength to do the things we couldn't normally do alone." he stated, to which he brought a finger up as if to further his point.

Sora stared at him for a few moments before slowly gaining a smile; "You're right! I kept thinking that I should handle things on my own, regardless of what anyone said otherwise...but I should have always remembered that my friends will always be there for me." she claimed as he smile turned to a grin.

"Exactly!" Merlin agreed with a small grin of his own, to which Archimedes gave a quick hoot in agreement, him having heard the whole conversation.

"Alright...I'm ready to go!" Sora claimed, to which the old man nodded his head and readied his magic for travel.

However, the teen never noticed Zola asleep in her hood, just as Merlin hadn't remembered that the leopard cub had crawled inside of it. This leading for the kitten to disappear along with the pair as they vanished together, though they soon appeared in the space between the worlds. Though in order to make sure they didn't just start floating around, a large bubble of magic was formed around them. Of which also seemed to be able to move freely through the space they were in as easily as a ship.

"Whoa...seeing it like this looks even cooler than usual." the teen whispered while looking in every direction.

All the while, the Gummi ship came flying up from Traverse Town to meet with them. It containing the first group Merlin had assigned, to which said older man gave a nod to the crew and flew off with Sora within the bubble. Yet the ship didn't seem to have any trouble keeping up as they flew at great speed side-by-side.

"I thought that you would have been able to just transport us to Hollow Bastion instantly." Sora muttered silently with a glance to Merlin, whom cleared his throat with a nod.

"Under normal circumstances, yes. But since Maleficent has enchanted the world to keep it hidden, even knowing its location still isn't enough to break through her magic. I hate to admit it, but her powers are possibly equal to my own." the elder wizard explained as they continued to fly on.

However, along the way, all of them quickly took notice of some sort of vessel coming directly toward them. Though the closer it got, the more they could make out its shape as an old fashion pirate ship. Which made Sora's eyes all but light up in excitement, to which she leaned her hands against the bubble. "A pirate ship...a real life pirate ship." she whispered out as her grin practically spread from ear-to-ear.

But this seemed to be cut short as the canons on the ship suddenly began firing at both Merlin's bubble and the Gummi ship. Yet while everyone else was panicking slightly and figuring out a way to defend themselves, Sora was just squealing silently. "A real pirate ship just fired its canons at us...this is so awesome~!"

Merlin briefly glanced to her with a light chuckle, yet he then used his magic to transform the canon balls into a bunch of butterflies. "We better split off, they can't get us both! And no matter what, just keep running!" he called out to the Gummi ship, yet it was clear that he was using a spell so that they could hear him.

As the wizard moved the bubble to the side, Donald piloted the Gummi ship in the opposite direction. This lead for the ship to then start pursuing Merlin and Sora, to which the former increased the speed of his transport as much as possible. Along the way, the teen looked from the elder man, to the ship with narrowed eyes. The brown-haired girl seeming to feel something coming from it, but couldn't quick make out what it could be.

Though the moment she unconsciously placed her hand over her heart, the brown-haired girl immediately knew who was on that ship. "Hey Merlin...does this thing move faster with only one person?" she asked quickly as if to make him answer without thinking too hard on what she intended to do.

"Yes it does, but-" was all he managed out before Sora suddenly blasted herself through the bubble and head on toward the pirate ship.

"Wait Sora!" Merlin called out as he looked back to her, yet she just gave a wink and grin.

"I'll catch up to you once this ship is mine~!" she responded before turning back to the vessel.

"I have been wanting to try this on a large scale." Sora whispered before summoning her Keyblade and holding it out in front of her with both hands.

"Reflega!" she yelled, to which a huge barrier started to form just a few feet away from the teen.

Yet this spell began to curve outward and away from its caster as its intended target was the incoming ship. But the moment the vessel hit the barrier it stopped with a sudden creak in the wood and brief upturning of the back. Upon seeing this, Sora smirked lightly and allowed herself to float through her own barrier and grab hold of the ship. She then climbed aboard and let out a satisfied breath as the barrier she created fully formed around the 'enemy vessel'.

"Well...that went well." she muttered, her sounded rather proud of herself.

"I beg to differ." Riku spoke out with a voice that sounded as if he was spitting out poison from his mouth.

Sora gasped to this as she turned toward her friend as he was kneeling next to the helm, yet it was the lifeless body of Kairi in his arms that made her eyes widen. This leading for her to whisper out both her friends names and slowly walk toward them. However, she was quickly stopped when Riku summoned his weapon and pointed at her. "Don't even think about it." he stated firmly as his eyes narrowed.

* * *

And there you have it. This was mainly an 'in-between' chapter, but make sure to keep in mind the things that were said in this...they will be brought up later. Anyway, sorry again for the later update...unless, again...you're not reading this on the date I posted it. *Ehem* But I digress, thank you for reading and let me know what you all thought in a review. Until next time everyone.


	38. Neverland

In case any of you are wondering by the end of this, the reason why this will be the only Neverland chapter is because the next one will be more in Hallow Bastion. ;) Anyway, I hope you like this one. Though a fair warning...this is a mainly talking chapter, so not much action happens.

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 38: Neverland

Sora looked from the tip of Riku's blade to the wielder as she slowly let out a breath and nodded. "Alright…I have some explaining to do, so please just listen to what I have to say." she said while looking to her silver-haired friend.

Whom narrowed his eyes on her once more, to which he briefly shifted his gaze to the 'sleeping' girl in his arms. Though after he turned back to Sora, he let out a sigh and lowered his weapon; "Fine." was all he said in response.

The brown-haired girl slowly nodded her head to him before clearing her throat lightly; "Alright...firstly; I didn't just leave Traverse Town because I thought something was more important than Kairi. I left because I knew that if Kairi found out I turned a blind eye to someone who needed my help, she would have been really upset at me." she started, which lead for Riku to blink a few times.

"Second; I have been hiding something from you regarding Kairi...but that was only because I wasn't sure if it was actually true to begin with. And I didn't want to give either of us false hope, so I kept quiet about it. But now I'm sure that it's true, so I have every intention of telling you." the teen continued as she placed a hand over her heart.

"Kairi's heart is within me." was all she stated, causing her friend's eyes to widen even further in response.

"I know it sounds crazy...and I thought it was just my imagination, but after a few things happened...I realized that it has to be true." Sora said with a gaze to Riku, her hoping that he would believe her.

Though the silver-haired boy remained silent for a few moments, he glanced down to Kairi with a rather unsure gaze. Yet as he looked back to Sora, he let out a heavy breath and slowly nodded his head. "Alright...I'll believe you, for now" he said quietly, his gaze hardening on her.

The young girl quickly smiled to this before nodding as she thanked him for his answer. "Thanks Riku."

"Sure, but now we need to figure out a way to get her heart back inside of her." the silver-haired teen said while looking from Sora to Kairi.

"Actually..." the blue-eyed girl started with a clearing of her throat; "...while finding a way to do it is fine, we should probably hold off on going through with it until after we beat Maleficent."

Upon hearing these words, Riku's eyes narrowed on his friend and slowly raised a brow in suspicion. "And why is that?"

"Because, I've heard that she has some kind of plan for Kairi...and judging from the things I've heard about that witch...we can't trust her around Kairi." Sora explained, though as the boy slowly nodded, they quickly turned to the side as a pair of foot steps were heard coming closer.

"Well well well...what do we have here, Smee?" a rather sophisticated voice questioned as the two figured came up the steps to 'greet' them.

The first person appeared quite thin with his dark, curly, shoulder-length hair draping over his shoulders. He had a large chin, a sizable, hooked nose, and a thin, black mustache that angled sharply upward. His outfit consisted of a frilly, white shirt underneath a red coat with gold lining and maroon cuffs. Each of these cuffs sporting two yellow buttons, which reflected a bit of light from the lanterns nearby.

He also had on an orange sash over his right shoulder that held his sword scabbard near his left hip. The weapon within this casing was a rapier that had a golden handle and guard. The man's other garments were a pair of maroon pants, white knee-high socks, and black shoes with a pink circle decorating each one. The tongues of his shoes appeared quite large as they reached halfway up his shins. Lastly, a huge, maroon hat with an even bigger, white feather stuck in it was seen upon his head.

"A stowaway I'd say Captain Hook." was the response from this 'Smee', his voice sounding as if he was holding his nose.

Smee himself was a short, rotund man with an odd, hourglass-shaped head. He had shoulder-length, white hair and thick, black eyebrows. His nose was quite large and deep pink in color, while the rest of his skin appeared to be a much lighter shade of pink. In terms of clothing, Smee seemed to have on a simple set of brown sandals, teal shorts, and a short-sleeved shirt with blue and white horizontal stripes. He also wore half-moon spectacles and a floppy, conical, red hat with a red puffball on the tip.

"Indeed. And what do we do with stowaways?" Captain Hook asked with a small smirk as he and Smee reached the top step.

Though upon doing so, Sora quickly noticed that this captain was not only missing a hand, but had a silver hook as a replacement. "That's hardcore." she whispered as a small smirk curled her lips.

Yet as she then turned her attention to Smee, he seemed to be looking up in thought as if trying to find the answer to his captain's question. "Um...make them wash the deck?" was his response, which made Hook growl silently.

"They walk the plank!" the one-handed man claimed before sighing heavily.

"Oh of course...pirate policy after all." Smee muttered quickly with a nod of his head.

"Quite." Captain Hook said while clearing his throat and looking over to Sora, whom couldn't take her gaze off the hook as he used it to curl his mustache.

"Now then...it's time to get this bilge rat off my ship!" he continued in a firm tone, which brought forth dozens of Heartless around the girl.

Said brown-haired teen glanced around to each of them before she just smirked; "Nice trick...but I've got a better one." she stated before snapping her fingers.

This bringing her own two Heartless on either side of her, which shocked each of the three humans nearby. Though within moments, Sora's pair of Heartless destroyed all of the others around them. Which in turn gave each of them the hearts that had been released from the opposing creatures. Yet after a brief flow of darkness from them, it showed that while their bodies didn't change in shape, their color scheme had.

Both Heartless now sporting a slightly lighter shade and red, vain-like lines on their heads, arms and legs. "Oh~, you guys evolved again." Sora whispered after the transformation was finished.

Immediately following her comment, the two turned to her and just seemed to stare for a few moments. Despite retaining a small smirk on her features, the brown-haired teen kept her Keyblade firmly held in her hand. However, when no attack came, Sora quickly realized that the two were likely waiting for her next order.

'Huh...before they just vanished after fulfilling the first task I asked them to do. But now they're expecting more from me. So they're either wanting to grow, and understand that I'm helping them to do that, or...they've instinctively grown accustomed to listening to my commands.' she thought quickly before waving her hand to the pair, to which they just disappeared into the shadows.

"Alright...now where were we?" Sora questioned while looking over to Riku with a small smirk.

"Around the part where you tell me how long you've been able to do that." was his response as he gestured to the spot that her two Heartless once stood.

"Um...I'm actually pretty sure I could do that since before the island was destroyed." the brown-haired girl said, her shrugging lightly as she gave a sheepish smile.

However, her attention was quickly pulled away as the sound of a sword being unsheathed was heard. This lead for her to turn toward Captain Hook, whom brought his rapier up and then out to show his ready to fight.

"If you will not walk the plank, then I will just have to knock you off my ship!" was the man's claim as he swung his blade toward the teen.

Said girl merely raised a brow and twitched her free hand to create a Reflega spell around her. Of which had made Hook's attack bounce right off as it he was hitting a steel column with a wooden stick. "Um...you might need something a little bigger to break my spell." Sora whispered out after clearing her throat.

"Is that so?" the captain asked before he then walked back down the steps and pulled one of canons to the side and pointed it toward the girl.

"Big enough for you?" he questioned with a small grin, him not even waiting for a response before he lit the wick and fired the canon into Sora's shield.

However, despite shooting right through the barrier, the teen had ducked and remained completely unharmed. 'Whoa...I completely lost concentration the moment he pointed that canon at me. I'm glad I crouched when I did or I wouldn't have a head right now.' she mused silently with a heavy sigh of relief.

Yet she soon blocked the downward slash from Hook as he rushed up the stairs once more to attack her. "Now we can fight properly!" he claimed as his grin returned to his features.

"Maybe later...I'm kinda busy." Sora said before whispering 'Stopga', to which Hook suddenly froze in time.

Riku blinked to this many times, while Smee rushed over to his captain, him having been staying out of the way from the skirmish. Though as the brown-haired girl turned to her silver-haired friend, she just smiled lightly to him. However, his eyes narrowed slightly with a glint of jealousy while he looked back at her.

"So then...you suggest we leave Kairi like this for the sake of not letting Maleficent getting her hands on her?" he questioned, him going back to Sora's previous words now that they have a moment to think things over once more.

"Yeah...just to 'play it safe'." was the girl's response as she continued to smile to the boy.

Whom tilted his head down briefly before looking back to her; "Very well then, but I'm going to find out how to get her heart back, without you." he claimed firmly.

Sora blinked many times in response to this as she took a step toward him; "W-Wait, what?" she started with a confused look in her eyes.

"Why?" she continued, to which Riku simply lifted Kairi into his arms and stood up to his feet.

"Because you can't be trusted to do it on your own." he stated as if it were a complete fact.

Though as the brown-haired teen was about to ask on this further, Riku continued his words. "You already showed that you are more willing to help others over Kairi...regardless of your reasoning."

Sora's eyes widened to this as she opened her mouth to speak, yet nothing came out as her throat started to clench up. Yet it was her friend's next words that made her truly shocked; "And besides...you're clearly too caught up in saving everyone to really give your friends any thought."

The teen girl stared at him in near horror as she stepped back from Riku, her whole body feeling weak and almost sick. "B-But...I would never..." was all she could manage out while her hands trembled.

This causing her to drop her Keyblade, which disappeared soon after as she just gazed at her friend. Whom gave her a look of what seemed like detest; "I thought you wouldn't either, but it's already been proven." he responded while carrying Kairi away.

"W-Wait!" Sora cried out as she reached out to her friend, yet her vision soon began to go black.

"Excellent work Captain! Shall I toss her overboard?" Smee asked, him looking to Hook as he had been freed of the time spell during the teen's distress.

"No...lock her away in the brig for now, we'll deal with her later." Captain Hook responded with a smug tone.

Despite hearing all of this before she blacked out, Sora's focus was on her two friends getting further and further away. 'Why did it end up like this?' was all she questioned before losing consciousness.

* * *

I know having her fall unconscious twice within the span of three chapters seems a bit much...but trust me, when she wakes up...she's going to do some pretty bad ass stuff. So hopefully that'll balance things out. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and let me know what you thought. Until next time.


	39. Hollow Bastion part I

Well, this doesn't have as much action as I intended for it to, but as I'm sure you'll be able to tell from how this one will end...there is going to be a lot of action from now on. ;) However, I would suggest to read this one...it has the start of one of the biggest differences to the series that might even lead to the most changes. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy~!

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 39: Hollow Bastion part I

Sora groaned lightly as she slowly opened her eyes, to which she noticed that her surroundings was nothing but a wooden room. Though, upon closer inspection after sitting herself up, she saw a teen boy standing to the side with his arms crossed. He had pale skin, black eyebrows, brown eyes, and short, orange hair. The boy's garments consisted of a green cap with a red feather in it, a light green, short-sleeved tunic, and green tights. He also wore tan, pointed shoes, as well as a thin, brown strap around his waist to hold his small dagger.

The brown-haired girl looked him over for a moment, yet he didn't seem to take notice of her awakening. However, she wasn't in much of an introducing mood as the memories of what just transpired flooded her mind. This lead for her to narrow her eyes heavily and grind her teeth in anger and frustration. "Riku..." she growled out while clenching her hands into fists.

"Hmm?" the boy hummed out as he finally took notice of the girl's consciousness; "Oh...woke up at last, did ya?"

"It looks that way." Sora muttered silently as she stood up and shot a glare at the only door in the room.

"The name's Peter Pan. I was hoping to save my friend Wendy, but it sounds like that nasty old codfish went and caught Tink before she could get me out of here." he introduced and explained quickly, his tone showing his own frustration.

"Is that so?" the girl whispered, her voice sounding rather uninterested as she walked up to the door and placed a hand over it.

"Yep...though I've been trying to figure a way out, I haven't been able to come up with anything solid just yet." Peter said with a heavy sigh and shrug.

"But I know that Wendy is still here since I heard her calling out to me even after Hook and the others left the ship. I'm guessing that we've landed somewhere and they just left those creatures to guard us." he continued with a small smirk as if he was proud of his own deductions.

"Uh-huh." Sora hummed out while narrowing her eyes on the wooden surface of the door.

"Don't bother with the door...it's too thick to cut down, and the barricade over it is just as thick." the teen boy stated as he let out a breath and glanced around.

"That's why I've been looking around for a weak point in the walls. I might be able to use my dagger to-" was all he got out before Sora was engulfed in a black aura, to which a huge blast of darkness blew a seven foot hole straight through the side of the ship.

"Don't bother." the girl whispered as she walked through the hole and headed outside.

Along the way, Sora noticed many Heartless disappearing from the attack, it showing that all of the guards had been stationed directly outside the door. "Go find your friends and get out of here, I have some business to take care of with a friend of my own." the girl continued, her growling lightly at her last few words.

Despite not even looking back, Sora knew that Peter Pan was just staring at her in shock. Him having never seen anything close to what she just did, which simply left him speechless for a couple moments. Though, he did eventually snap himself out of his trance and headed out of the room to find his friends Wendy and 'Tink'.

All the while, on the outside of the ship, Sora glanced around the area she was now in. Her surroundings were that of a strange crystal plain, which had an aqua color to it. Yet one of the most interesting parts was the floating crystal platforms around a tall structure leading to a set of stairs. But the thing that made Sora briefly look around in awe, despite her intense rage, was the surrounding water rising upward many yards into the air.

However, her gaze to all this only lasted for a few seconds, to which she immediately turned to the top of the stairway when a roar was heard. Sora narrowed her eyes when she saw some sort of brown-furred beast with torn blue pants and a long purple cape. Though, it was Riku standing in front of this being that truly made her anger start boiling again. The boy having likely heard the explosion of her escape and came to investigate, but was stopped by the beast.

"I'm not going to let you come between me and Kairi, Riku." she whispered, the dark aura surrounding her starting to flare wildly like an inferno.

"I already tried to prove to you that I was willing to help her, and you spit in my face...so I'm getting her back." the girl continued in a low tone that sounded like a growl.

Yet unbeknownst to her, a brief surge of Maleficent's magic flowed from the sides of her eyes. "Even if I have to go through you." Sora finished before she summoned her Keyblade.

Immediately following her whisper, Riku finally turned his gaze down toward the ship within the Rising Falls. Upon doing so, he quickly noticed the large hole in the side and then finally the teen girl glaring up at him. However, in almost the same instant that he looked at her, Sora had vanished and appeared directly behind him.

"Where is she, Riku?" she asked silently as she kept her back to the boy.

Whom, as he attempted to turn and face her, found that his whole lower body was frozen in a thick layer of ice. This had included his hands as he had them at his sides during the moment of Sora's spell. Though, as he looked this ice over for a moment, he soon had the girl's Keyblade pointed directly into his face. The wielder of said weapon slowly turning toward him with a heavy glare.

"I said..." the brown-haired girl started as her eyes shifted into their golden color; "Where is she?" she demanded as Riku's own eyes just widened in shock.

Yet as he seemed to get his nerves back under control, he just took a few breaths and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Or what? You're going to hurt me? Get the information out of me by force?" he demanded quickly, his tone showing his doubt of the girl being able to do anything of what he just said.

As Sora looked at her 'friend' for a few moments, she just smirked a bit darkly and shrugged. "I actually don't know." was all she said as her Keyblade pressed against the bottom of Riku's chin.

But while there was anger and coldness in Sora's voice and eyes, there was something beneath all of it that the teen boy couldn't see; fear. The fear of doing something terrible that, while might seem justified right now, will have horrible consequences. But due to Riku's own anger and frustration, he just ground his teeth and gestured to the large castle just to the side of them. "She's in the Grand Hall." he muttered out silently.

"Good." Sora muttered as she moved her Keyblade away from him, yet she tapped the ice briefly, making it instantly spread until only Riku's face was left uncovered.

"That should cool your head." she muttered silently while heading toward the castle.

"I'll show you that I can and will save Kairi, with...or without your help." the girl continued as Riku just glared at her leaving form.

All the while, the beast was just watching all of this silently, as if unsure of whether or not he should get involved. Yet when Sora started leaving, he soon followed suit as if he had remembered something important he had to do, or find.

"You..." he started as he came up beside the brown-haired teen, whom looked up to him with a raised brow.

"...you have much darkness in your heart, you cannot save anyone with such a thing." he finished, his tone sounding as if he were speaking from possible experience.

Sora simply looked at him for a few moment before looked up to the huge castle, which seemed almost like it was made from a great many enormous pipes. "Watch me." she whispered before rushing forward with her Keyblade in hand, leaving the beast behind.

As she made her way through the castle, she encountered a great many Heartless acting as obstacles for her. Along the way, the girl was able to unleash much of her anger, which ended up destroying many portions of the castle itself. Yet after summoning her own pair of Heartless, it was mere minutes before she had started to approach the Chapel, just outside the Main Hall. However, as she walked through the dark hallway with her two 'comrades', she heard footsteps coming closer from the opposite direction.

"My my...it's about time we meet once again." Maleficent said, a small smirk curling her lips as she stopped in the middle of a wide open hallway.

"Indeed it is...though I really don't want to fight you, if at all possible." Sora said with a shrug, which made the woman raise a brow in response.

"Oh~? And why is that?" the witch questioned while tilting her head to the side slightly.

"Well...not counting the fact that you're a very powerful witch." the brown-haired girl started while continuing on her way.

"You've technically helped me more than hurt or hindered me thus far." she stated with a small smirk and another shrug, the teen's tone making her sound like she was back to normal.

Though it was clear from the fact that her eyes were still gold in color, this wasn't the case. For which Maleficent remained on guard, despite not seeming to make any sort of defensive pose. Yet she did give Sora a slightly confused gaze at her words, it being evident that she wanted more of an explanation.

This causing the girl to simply continue smirking lightly before shrugging her shoulders. "You told me to follow my heart...and I have." she started as she kept slowly walking toward the woman.

"You cursed me to try and turn me into a puppet...for which I learned that it's important to have others that will help you." Sora continued, to which she finally stopped a few feet away from Maleficent, yet their gazes never moved away from one another.

"Then, you had Oogie Boogie transform into something that would force me to use my dark powers. For which I assume you wanted to test what level it was, but I simply learned that I shouldn't be afraid to embrace my own power...regardless of its nature." she finished with a wider smirk on her features, yet it was void of the warmth that her normal one usually held.

As Maleficent listened to all this, she saw flashes of her curse's power coming out of the sides of the teen's eyes. This making her both fascinated and confused as to what was going on, though she soon smirked lightly. "Is that so? How interesting." she started while starting to walk around Sora slowly.

"Well then...how about becoming my apprentice? There are many more things I can teach you that even Merlin does not know." she said as her voice sounded almost soft, yet there was a hidden level of manipulation within it.

"Really?" the teen muttered with a small smirk of her own; "That sounds pretty good." she continued, yet soon sighed and shrugged lightly.

"But I'm afraid I can't be on your side. I need to save my friend after all." Sora stated rather firmly, Maleficent quickly noticing that the girl briefly went back to her normal self just from her tone.

"I see." the witch whispered in a disappointed voice, to which she started walking to the side.

"Although..." the teen began, which gained the attention of the older woman once more.

"...perhaps we could come to an agreement?" she continued as Maleficent immediately became interested in what the girl would suggest.

"If you really want to teach...or manipulate me, how about this; 'We both remain on separate sides, but whenever there comes a time when we must fight...you can teach me anything and everything you desire.' Even if it is a curse that will once again make me into your puppet, I will accept you as another one of my teachers and learn whatever you want to pass on." the brown-haired girl finished, to which the witch blinked a few times and tilted her head up in thought.

"Hmm...it seems highly unorthodox for a 'teacher-student' relationship. But then...we're not the most normal of people, so perhaps it could work." Maleficent said while tapping her chin.

"Though it would mean that our fights require one of us to fall in defeat, yet not in death." she continued with a raised brow.

"I would actually prefer to just be rid of you if it came down to your defeat." the woman continued with a harsh glance over to the teen.

"Besides...I wouldn't desire to have such a weak student." she stated firmly as if she was already Sora's teacher.

However, said girl just smirked once again and shrugged her shoulders; "Same here, I wouldn't want a teacher whom I was more powerful than." she responded in a defiant, yet somehow respectful tone.

Upon her comment, both females seemed to just smirk as if coming to some sort of understanding. Neither one of them feeling the need to keep their intentions unspoken toward one another anymore. This leading for Sora to hold out her Keyblade in the same moment that Maleficent brought forth her staff. As these made contact, a brief spark of dark power flowed between them, to which the two retracted their weapons and nodded to one another.

"Now then...before you can move on, we shall begin our first lesson" the witch spoke before she summoned a huge bolt of lightning that was much larger than anything Sora had seen up till that point.

But while the teen dodged out of way of this, she just smirked widely as one of her eyes had faded back to blue. "Absolutely." was all she said as her voice sounded truly excited.

* * *

And there you have it, Sora's other teacher...if you can really call her that. I told you that Maleficent was going to play a much bigger role. ;) But while it might seem like it's out of place for this sort of thing to transpire, just remember two things; 'Sora is being effected by her own darkness' and 'Maleficent will never miss a chance to get rid of or use Sora...especially now that she basically has her permission'. So anyway, I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter, let my know in your review, I read all of them. Until next time.


	40. Hollow Bastion part II

**Sorry for this chapter being late, my internet was acting up and it wasn't letting me log on. So I hope you'll forgive me and accept this chapter as my apology. ;) Anyway, I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 40: Hollow Bastion part II

Lightning strike after lightning strike, Maleficent summoned these magic bolts down upon Sora over and over again. Said teen doing almost all she could to block them with her own magic or dodge out of the way. Despite the witch seeming to keep the younger girl on the defensive, she still appeared to be fully prepared for a counterattack.

"What's wrong? Are my lessons too severe?" Maleficent questioned with a light chuckle and smirk on her features.

As Sora continued to gaze toward the woman, she kept her Keyblade in a reverse grip as if to make sure it wasn't in the way. Her having used her free hand to summon each barrier that blocked her opponent's lightning. Yet once the bolts of electricity stopped, the teen did as well, her having rushed around the hall the whole time.

"Now then, before your first pop quiz...how about you show me the extent of your magical power?" Maleficent stated as her smirk widened slightly while gazing toward Sora.

Whom of which raised a brow briefly, to which she slowly took on a small grin and shrugged. "I was gonna wait till the area was filled with lightning magic before I'd counter, but I guess I'll just finish the job myself." she whispered before her body began to glow a bright yellow.

All the while, her yellow eyes began to shine brightly, her previously blue one changing back at the start of the 'lesson'. As Sora flipped her Keyblade in a normal grip, she shot a huge bolt of Thundaga magic into the air. This floated directly over Maleficent for a brief second before it splayed out around the woman in a make-shift cage.

But, it was the bolt of magic that Sora shot into the floor immediately afterward that created a true prison around the witch. This leading for Sora to bring her Keyblade out, point it at her opponent a few yards away, and smirk lightly. "Thundaga Clap." she whispered as she turned her weapon to the side.

Her action making all of the electricity around Maleficent close in around her within the blink of an eye. The resulting roar of thunder echoed and vibrated all throughout the castle, though the explosion of magic had destroyed half of the roof above them. Though this attack created a large cloud of dust and rubble, once it cleared, it revealed the witch to have vanished.

"I guess I should have figured you'd escape from that. But I suppose you knew if you hadn't...you would have been finished." Sora whispered with a glance around the area, the woman being no where in sight.

"What was it you said before?" Maleficent's voice spoke out from behind the teen, to which said girl quickly turned around to face her.

"When?" the brown-haired girl asked with a raised brow, the aura around her diminishing, yet her yellow eyes continued to glow.

"Just now...you said that you were going to wait till the area was filled with lightning magic before you would counter." the witch stated as she slowly took on a small grin.

"What about it?" Sora questioned as she tilted her head to the side slightly in her confusion.

"That means that you know how to manipulate the built up magic within the air." Maleficent responded, her then nodding her head as if approving of this.

"That Merlin sure taught you some useful and powerful techniques..." she continued on, yet her expression quickly took a dark turn as her eyes narrowed on her 'student'.

"...however..." was the last thing she said as a brief spark surged through the air, to which a gigantic flash of lightning blasted directly at Sora.

Though the girl managed to block with a Reflega spell, it had soon shattered apart along with the rest of the roof and even part of the floor. This blast being far greater than the one that the brown-haired teen created with her own attack. But after having jumped away from the crumbling area of the floor, Sora began to breath heavily. It being clear that she used quite a bit of power for her last barrier, to which she narrowed her own gaze upon her 'teacher'.

"...you lack precision and control." the witch stated in a nearly firm tone as if she was taking her role seriously at the moment.

"You have enormous power, there is no doubt about that...but to truly become a great mage, you must be precise with your attacks and control them accurately. After all...right now, you're just a blind child lashing out with a massive club." she continued with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Sure it's devastating if you hit someone, but the moment you take away the possibility of getting hit...your power means nothing." the woman finished, to which Sora's eyes widened briefly, which briefly revered back to their normal blue color.

"I see." the teen whispered with a light nod of her head.

"Now then..." Maleficent began once more, her tone sounding more sinister as her 'teacher' facade vanished with her previous words.

"...time for your pop quiz." she continued while taking a few steps toward the brown-haired girl.

"How many times can you use the built up magic within the air after already using it once?" was all she asked before many more bolts of lightning struck down and around the teen.

Despite being weaker than the previous one, they were still much stronger than the ones she had used at the beginning of the lesson. However, the teen just repeated her previous actions in dodging or blocking these attacks until they finally stopped after ten strikes.

"I'm guessing that it depends on the strength and type of the spells, as well as the intensity you reuse the magic for each attack." Sora answered as she breathed heavily a few times soon afterward.

"Excellent." Maleficent said as she brought her staff up; "Now then...class dismissed." she whispered before a huge circular portal appeared above her.

This revealing what looked like outer space, and multiple small meteors the size of boulders coming straight toward the opening. "Meteors of heaven, unleash thy fury." the witch whispered as the large rocks came hurling toward Sora.

Upon seeing this, the teen's eyes widened in response, yet she soon gained a black aura and slashed at the five meteors coming at her. All of which were reduced to dust as a large wave of darkness blasted from her weapon and engulfed the boulders. However, after this occurred, Maleficent simply clapped her hands together with a smug smirk on her features.

"Perfect. Now I can be satisfied with the lesson." she whispered as she and Sora readied to attack one another, to which both of them took on fiery auras of darkness around them.

However, just as they were about to initiate an attack, a sudden meow was heard from within the teen's hood. This made Sora immediately stop in her actions, as well as for her darkness to all but disappear. Not only did her eyes return to return to normal, but the light within them also seemed to come back as well. Yet as she quickly looked over her shoulder to Zola, she gasped in shock as said kitten tiredly climbed out of the hood.

"Ah yes...your feline companion." Maleficent whispered with a raised brow, her also having paused her attack.

"Z-Zola...what are you doing here?" Sora questioned quickly, her voice sounding truly panicked as all of the teen's rage had vanished.

Though the girl merely received a meow in response, she quickly turned toward the witch in front of her as she wasn't sure about the fight anymore. The brown-haired teen having flashes in her mind of the moment when Zola had died, which brought her to tears. Yet as Maleficent brought her staff up as to continue her attack, she paused upon seeing the girl's tears.

But despite her hesitation, she gathered some magic energy and held her 'weapon' out to fire. However, nothing ever came as the witch soon looked to the side when the echoing of many footsteps was heard close by. "Hmph...I don't like having poor odds in my favor. I suppose we'll have to continue this fight another time." she said before hitting her staff on the floor and vanished in a surge of black and green fire.

"Mixing your darkness together with your magic shall be your 'homework' for the time being." Maleficent's voice echoed out briefly before it was gone.

Sora breathed heavily as she quickly pulled Zola into her arms and held her tightly. "You scared me!" she cried out while looking to the kitten with tears in her eyes.

"You can't just come with me like this...it's too dangerous!" she continued, her not even noticing the group from Traverse Town coming up toward her.

"I couldn't bare losing you again." Sora whispered with a trembling voice as Zola simply meowed silently and even started letting out her own version of a purr.

Zola knowing just how distressed the teen was, despite being so young, which made her curl up into Sora's arms. This making her slowly calm down and even regain her true smile; "I'm sorry too." the brown-haired girl whispered silently.

Though, upon noticing the group of people near of her, she let out a startled yelp in response. For which she blushed from and quickly tried to cover this up by clearing her throat; "Y-Yo...wh-what took all of you so long?" she asked quickly, yet never made eye contact with any of them.

"Well...we were supposed to meet outside of the castle with our informants before we stormed inside." Cid muttered with a shrug of his shoulders.

"But it looks like we could have just left the whole 'pushing our way into the castle' to you." Leon said silently, him smirking briefly with a tilt of her head.

"R-Right." Sora said in a sheepish tone, as well as having a smile to match it.

Yet after a moment, she soon noticed two people who she hadn't seen before coming up behind the others. 'The informants?' she asked briefly in her mind with a slight tilt of her head to the side.

The first was a tall man with a stern expression and tanned skin. His head appeared completely shaved and had on a pair of sunglasses. He also had on a blue suit and black tie, as well as sported a small, black goatee. "Greetings, my name is Rude." the man said in a deep and somewhat stern voice.

The second was also a male, yet he had a much more lanky physique compared to the other one next to him. His eyes were blue in color, while his red hair appeared rather unkempt, despite having a long ponytail. There were two, symmetrical red marks on his cheekbones and had on a pair a goggles that he had pushed up onto his forehead. His uniform was the same as the first man's, yet he kept the suit jacket unbuttoned and even had his dress shirt untucked. "Sup...the name's Reno." he introduced, his tone being rather laid back.

"H-Hey, I'm Sora." the teen responded with blinking eyes, her glancing between the two.

"Yes, we know who you are...we were briefed by Merlin the Wizard upon his arrival." Rude stated with a gesture toward the old man.

Whom of which seemed to be looking at the girl with a hard gaze, causing her to gulp down and simply hope that he wasn't able to see the things she had just done. Yet he just gave a small smile to her, which basically confirmed that he hadn't seen anything and made Sora inwardly sigh in relief. But after a brief moment she turned to Reno once more as he spoke; "Although, I was kinda hoping for someone a bit more...impressive." he said in a shrug of his shoulders, causing Sora to sweat drop as she knew he was likely referring to her age.

"But...I guess beggars can't be choosers, huh?" Reno continued as he sighed and shrugged once more.

Immediately following this comment, everyone quickly looked down as there was a sudden rumbling in the remaining floor. This lead for all of them to quickly rush away as the bricks under their feet began to crumble away. Upon reaching the far wall, Merlin quickly turned it into a path and allowed everyone to get through to the next area, the Grand Hall.

Where of which six sleeping teens could be seen trapped within blue colored crystals, there being three on either side of the hall. Yet the thing that Sora noticed about these girls was the fact that she recognized two of them; "Alice...Jasmine." she whispered silently.

"Oh dear..." Merlin began as he looked each of the teens over for a moment; "...they have all lost their hearts." he finished while turning to the others.

"Wait...does that mean that Maleficent has succeeded?" Leon asked quickly as his eyes narrowed.

"Probably not." Cloud chimed in as he glanced around briefly; "We'd probably 'feel' something if she had already 'opened the door'."

Upon his words, Sora's eyes widened for a moment as she recalled the voice from her 'dream' saying something about 'opening the door'. Though, before she could think much further, they all quickly turned to the end of the hall. Which had a short stairway that lead up to a strange opening of many different, yet swirling colors and even sparks of electricity. However, the thing that grasped Sora's attention was the shape this opening had, it looking exactly like the symbol she had seen upon many of the larger Heartless she encountered.

"Looks like he's right." Aerith said silently as she gestured toward Cloud; "The portal still looks incomplete, so there is no reason to worry. We just have to make sure to stop Maleficent here and now."

"Exactly!" Yuffie claimed with a grin on her features, to which they all headed up the stairway and toward the portal.

Yet, just as all of them anticipated, Maleficent herself was there waiting for them. However, right next to her was Riku, but he had on a strange outfit and even a black and red Keyblade in his right hand. "Riku." Sora muttered out as her bitterness was heard within her tone.

The boy's new attire consisting of a form-fitting suit that appeared to be made of a black muscle tissue of some sort. This black material fading to red around the wrists, which was formed over a set of purple gloves. His suit also had a purple-blue color on the chest and part of the torso, this area having the same emblem as the portal behind him.

While there was purple on the feet and shins, this faded into black upon going further up his legs. There was also a dark purple belt and a cloth around his waist, the latter of which opened in the front. The cloth itself having an off-white color that faded into dark purple at its ripped bottom.

The Keyblade within his hand however seemed to draw more attention than his change in outfit. This consisting of a simple design of a black 'blade', which had teeth that formed the outline of a heart. Lastly, the guard was red in color and had two short spikes on either side that pointed toward the tip of the weapon.

"Is that a Keyblade?" Goofy muttered out with blinking eyes as he came up beside Sora along with Donald.

Both of them seeming to be ready to protect the teen, to which said girl blinked a few times to their gesture and slowly smiled. Her not feeling as much anger toward Riku as she did before, which made her a bit regretful that she behaved the way she did. Yet the moment the silver-haired boy spoke, everyone's eyes widened in shock and confusion.

"Ah...welcome back Princess." he said silently with a confident smirk, which caused a spark of light to shimmer from Sora's chest as if reacting to something.

It was then that the brown-haired girl noticed that right in front of the portal was the unconscious body of Kairi, which made her whisper her female friend's name. Though, she quickly narrowed her eyes on her other 'friend', his voice sounding as if there was someone talking along with him. But there wasn't much mystery as to whom it was for her since she had heard it enough to recognize it almost instantly.

"What did you do to Riku?" she demanded while readying her Keyblade and placing Zola back into her hood.

"Excellent...you noticed after all." 'Riku' muttered with a small smirk on his features, yet it appeared cold and dark.

"But there are too many ears for this conversation, so how about we take this to somewhere a bit more comfortable?" he continued before raising his hand up, which suddenly caused a sphere of darkness to engulf everyone all at once.

Once this had consumed them, it seemed to bring each individual to there own personal void of darkness. But while most of them attempted to break free, Maleficent had remained on the outside as she watched the portal with an expecting gaze. All the while, Sora just glanced around briefly and noticed 'Riku' standing right behind her a few feet away within her own void.

"Much better." he said, his voice echoing silently around them.

"Now then..." 'Riku' continued while taking on a fighting pose in an exact manner as the normal Riku would; "...shall we begin?"

* * *

 **And there you have it, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the fight between Riku-Ansem and Sora. Let me know what you guys thought of this chapter in a review and have a great morning/afternoon/night. ^^' Until time next time everyone.**


	41. Hollow Bastion part III

**Before I begin...I would like to point out that Sora's fighting pose is just like Aqua's. I know this is like 40 chapters late and no one really asked to know, I still wanted to mention it since I don't remember saying it in any of the other chapters.** ** **Or maybe I did already mentioned it and my memory is just that bad...hmm, oh well I suppose.** Anyway, on to the chapter.  
**

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 41: Hollow Bastion part III

"Now then..." 'Riku' began with a small smirk curling his lips, him and Sora staring into each others eyes with hard gazes.

"...shall we begin?" he finished while shifting his front foot forward, just like how Riku normally would when about ready to attack.

"Of course." Sora responded as she shifted to the side in her own battle pose.

Immediately following this, both fighters charged forward and slammed their Keyblades against one another with great strength. Though there was no outward effect of this clash, it was clear that if there was a real floor under them, it would have been blown away instantly from the force. But as their blades ground against one another, the two glared into each others eyes, both of them having yellow iris'.

"So who are you, really?" the brown-haired teen questioned before they pushed and flipped away from each other.

"It is I...Ansem, Seeker of Darkness." 'Riku' claimed, his previous smirk widening after his words.

"Well then..." Sora started once more as she flipped her weapon in a reverse fashion before suddenly appearing in front of her opponent.

Upon doing this, the two locked blades once more, 'Riku' blocking her attack despite how instantaneous it appeared to the naked eye. "...now that I know what to call you, what did you do to Riku?" she demanded in a low growl.

However, rather than responding right away like before, the boy in front of the teen just chuckled lightly for a few moments. Yet, before Sora could question him further, he finally spoke up in a confident and almost proud tone. "Exactly what you allowed me to do."

Instantly after his comment, 'Riku' pushed the brown-haired girl away from him with great strength. Though Sora herself had become distracted from her shock, she caught the large ball of dark energy her opponent shot from his free hand. "What do you mean by that?" she asked in a suspicious tone, all while lowering her hand as the previous attack disappeared.

"After freezing him in place, you made him the easiest target I could possibly have hoped for." the 'boy' began in his strange dual voices, to which Sora's eyes narrowed in response.

The pair slowly slid closer to one another before leaping forward and colliding their Keyblades once more. Yet they didn't stop this time, they instantly starting swinging their weapons toward once another in a series of slashes and thrusts. All the while, they rolled away or parried their opponent's attacks with great ease on both sides. During all of their actions however, the conversation between them continued, as if their fight was a mere afterthought.

"A foolish person with a weak heart and a liking for the darkness, how could I resist?" 'Riku' continued with a tone that sounded as if he was not only mocking Riku, but Sora as well.

"Though...I suppose I really have you to thank for making his heart so fragile and easy to break." were his next words, which caused the brown-haired teen to stare at him in shock once more as their blades locked.

"W-What?!" she demanded while tightening her grip on the Keyblade in both her hands.

"His anger from his defeat, his frustration knowing that it was you who beat him, and most of all...his jealousy of your power." 'Riku' explained, his confidence and mocking tone never wavering from his voice.

Immediately after this, the two pushed away from one another, yet 'Riku' then blasted another ball of darkness from his left hand. Sora narrowed her eyes briefly to this as she simply summoned a bolt of lightning from above to strike it in the middle of its trajectory. "What are you talking about?!" the brown-haired girl demanded as she then rushed toward her opponent.

"Riku's not jealous of me!" Sora claimed quickly just before clashing her weapon against 'Riku's' once more, yet she quickly kneed him hard in the stomach.

Despite this knocking the 'boy' back a few feet, he just continued to smirk at the girl, as if to show her that she didn't hurt him. "Oh~?" he hummed out, to which he suddenly tapped the 'floor' with his Keyblade.

This action causing an enormous eruption of dark power around the girl, whom had jumped out of this a few moments later as if it were a large fire. Though she had a few noticeable burns, these disappeared after a quick Curaga spell, to which she hardened her gaze once more on her opponent. However, 'Riku' simply chuckled lightly, clapped a few times and slowly gestured to the girl with his free hand.

"It's 'that' power that he envies so much. You were able to survive such an attack so easily and simply healed your injuries like it was nothing." he said silently, him taking a few steps toward Sora.

"That very attack would have defeated your pathetic friend instantly. Yet you...you not only survived, but it barely even fazed you." were the words he spoke before he suddenly vanished and began to fly in from all sides around Sora.

'Riku's' whole body glowing with power as he flew by the dodging teen with many thrusts and swings of his weapon toward her. All the while, Sora just kept moving out of the way just in time as if her body was operating on instinct to get out of the way. Yet the teen slowly looked down as 'Riku's' attack soon ended and he appeared off to the side with a raised brow.

"But...he..." the girl whispered out silently, her not even sure of what to say at this point.

"Was always the 'cool' one?" 'Riku' questioned with a chuckle from his own words.

"It's all the more reason for him to feel jealous, wouldn't you say?" he more of stated than asked as he took a step forward once more, but no attack came just yet.

"After all...if he's to be the one who rescues your friend, how is he supposed to get any credit with someone as powerful as you standing there with him?" he continued, to which he tapped his Keyblade on the 'floor' once more.

This time, a series of black spikes blasted from the 'ground' in a direct line leading from his weapon, to his opponent. However, Sora didn't even flinch as she formed a barrier that prevented her from getting hit by this attack. Though in doing this, it made it easier for him to rush up in front of her and thrust his Keyblade straight through the barrier. Despite moving out of the way of the tip, the girl was almost too distracted and received a cut in her jacket's sleeve.

"He might as well have been a child tagging along side an adult. And no matter how much the child helps...an adult will always get most, if not all, of the credit in the eyes of others." 'Riku' said while watching Sora quickly flip to the side in order to gain some distance.

"Who would believe the 'whining of a child' to begin with? It's obvious which of you is the strongest and wisest." he continued with yet another chuckle, but it seemed almost cynical this time.

"But...Kairi..." Sora whispered out, her still trying to think of a way to counter his words as if it would somehow justify her actions.

"Wouldn't think that way? Of course she wouldn't." 'Riku' stated as if already knowing that the teen would bring up her other friend next.

Once he said this however, he then gained a black aura and seemed to prepare for some kind of large-scale attack. For which, Sora surrounded herself in a powerful Reflega spell, yet Maleficent's 'homework' soon came to mind. The thought leading for her to slowly gain an aura of darkness as well, to which the barrier's strength had increased greatly.

"But do you think he sees it that way? He was scared of not being strong enough to save her from the very beginning, yet in seeing your power...he lost all hope that he would ever be able to do it. So he had to get you out of the way so that when Kairi awakened, he could prove to her and himself that he was strong enough." 'Riku' said in a bit of an almost scolding tone, him bringing a hand up and created a ball of all the dark energy he gathered.

This voice making it clear, even to Sora, that he was trying to get her in an emotionally compromised state so she couldn't block his attack. Though, despite knowing this already, the teen couldn't help the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. But the moment the ball shot into the air, she quickly regained most of her senses and was able to keep the spell up to block the literal downpour of dark power.

As this 'rain' fell, Sora could feel every drop on her shield as if they were large stones dropping from the sky. Yet while it didn't seem as if it would be a threat, the more that fell, the more the barrier began to crack from all sides. Upon noticing 'Riku' getting into position behind her, Sora's eyes narrowed heavily in response before closing.

'There is no way that I can hold this up for long. Even with my darkness, it's too new of a concept for me to use it effectively. I need a way of escape, but even if I get away from him...I can't get away from this rain.' she thought quickly while feeling her barrier starting to break apart.

"Wait a second." she whispered before snapping her eyes open and looking over to her opponent, whom charged forward with his weapon piercing her shield.

However, the teen looked at him with a small smirk as she allowed her spell to shatter, to which she then moved ever so slightly to the side to dodge his weapon. But before he could rush past her, Sora grabbed his wrist and held him in place; "I knew it." she said silently as her yellow eyes turned back to blue and the exploding magic of her barrier shined around them.

"So...you discovered the 'safety zone' for this technique." 'Riku' said with a small smirk curling his lips.

"Even with everything I've revealed...you still have enough mental power to figure out that the 'rain' can't hit you if you're within a certain distance from me." he continued, yet he sounded as if he was truly praising her.

"Impressive." the 'boy' muttered as the 'rain' soon stopped and he turned to his opponent, whom still had a hold of his wrist.

"So then...why was Maleficent just standing there?" Sora questioned, her dropping the previous conversation in order to clear her mind.

'It's all a bit much right now, so I'll need to think long and hard about this later on.' she thought briefly to herself.

"Well...if you're interested in knowing, she's waiting for the portal to be opened." he explained, to which Sora finally released him and allowed him to take a step back.

"And what exactly is on the other side?" Sora muttered out, to which she merely received a smirk in response.

Yet the brown-haired girl soon raised a brow to him as if demanding that he answer her question. This leading for 'Riku' to just chuckle lightly in response and shrug; "I suppose there is no point in hiding it from you any further." he started while suddenly stabbing his weapon into the 'ground', to which he then crossed his arms.

"Bringing together the Seven Princesses of Heart will open up a door. This door leads to something known as; Kingdom Hearts." he said, making Sora blink many times and even echo out his last two words as she had never heard of this, yet it seemed familiar.

"It's Kingdom Hearts that she is after, but just as I said...the portal can only be opened once all Seven Princesses of Heart are gathered." 'Riku' continued, causing the brown-haired teen's eyes to widen as she quickly caught on to what he was hinting at.

"Kairi...she's the last Princesses of Heart." she said silently while briefly looking down to the 'boy's' Keyblade.

"Ah~...very good." he started, to which he tapped the bottom of the weapon's grip.

"And this Keyblade was gifted to us by six of the seven gathered Princesses. As such, it has the power to unleash the power within ones heart...as well as to release someones heart from their body." he continued as the girl quickly figured out what he was leading up to with all this information.

"So, it was basically formed for the sole purpose of releasing Kairi's heart." were the next words he spoke, confirming Sora's suspicion.

"Won't you follow their desires and release her heart resting within you?" 'Riku' asked with a tone and smirk that made it all too obvious that it was a trap.

"As if I'd fall for something so blatant. I'll find my own way to help her." Sora said quickly as she raised her Keyblade up to point directly at her opponent.

"Besides, even if that was true...wouldn't you have said something before we started fighting to save yourself the time?" she all but demanded, yet somehow knew that he wasn't completely lying.

"Believe me if you wish...but this is the only way of releasing her heart available to you. Though if you want to know why I didn't mention it before...you simply didn't ask." he claimed in a mocking tone once more, which made the girl grind her teeth in frustration.

"Though my reasoning for fighting you is much more complex, it was mainly to see your...progress." he explained silently, his voice sounding as if he wasn't only talking about Sora herself.

While thinking all this over for a few brief moments, the teen girl kept her eyes narrowed on 'Riku'. Yet said 'boy' then tilted his Keyblade toward Sora as if urging her to take it, him smirking confidently the whole time. "Go on. The choice is yours, but would you really leave Kairi without a heart after you finally found a way to save her?" he questioned silently and took a step forward.

"Just how far are you willing to go for your friend?" he finished as he pointed a finger at her, it being like he was accusing her somehow.

Sora ground her teeth together once more, yet she soon dismissed her own Keyblade and took the black and red one into her hand. Though she appeared almost angry about not having many other choices, her gaze slowly softened as she took in and let out a slow breath. 'Well...I guess it's now or never, huh?' she thought quickly as she flipped the weapon around so that the tip pointed at her heart.

Despite noticing the dark grin on 'Riku's' features, she simply ignored it and closed her eyes briefly. "Riku..." she started silently while turning toward said boy.

"...I'm coming to get you once I've saved Kairi." she stated firmly with her trademark smirk, which made 'Riku' blink in response.

Immediately following her words, Sora stabbed the Keyblade into her chest, which caused a large flash of light to pierce the darkness around her. As this happened, the shadows seemed to lift away and reveal the Traverse Town group standing over a weakened Maleficent, still in front of the portal. Though, once all of them turned toward Sora and saw what she had done, they quickly realized what it now meant.

As the light started to fade, the Keyblade pulled away on its own and dissolved into six glowing lights. All the while, a seventh one emerged from Sora's chest, to which each of them flew over toward their destined bodies and allowed the Seven Princesses of Heart to awaken. Yet upon doing so, Kairi saw Sora's body starting to fade away, despite glowing brightly; "Sora!" she called out and rushed toward her friend.

However, upon her arrival, Sora's body had vanished and was reduced to nothing but diminishing orbs of light. This shocking nearly everyone in the area, yet both 'Riku' and Maleficent used this distraction to flee inside of the now completed portal. But before the latter of the two went through, she spared a brief glance toward the fading lights and smirked slowly.

"Clever girl."

* * *

 **Will Sora come back? Will the Traverse Town group find out how to take Ansem and Maleficent down once and for all? Has anyone really not played this game already? Anyway, I hope all of you enjoyed. Let me know what you thought in a review if you please. So until next time everyone.**


	42. Unknown

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 42: ?

Falling once again. Falling forever into darkness. It felt so cold, yet inviting. So thick, yet embracing. There was no sense of time, or space. No direction seemed to matter, except for down. Further and further down.

"Where…am I?" Sora whispered out, her voice feeling enclosed as if she was surrounded by a wall.

Yet as her hazy eyes shifted from side to side, she noticed a figure out in the distance. This person too was falling into the abyss of darkness, yet they looked almost familiar to her. Despite only seeing them while in a daze, she could make out their golden blond hair, as well as their white and black clothing.

"Who…are you?" the girl uttered out silently, it feeling as if she was attempting to speak for the first time in her life.

However, just after her words, the figure vanished into the shadows around them. This leaving the teen all alone, to which her eyes slowly closed as she allowed herself to continue sinking. 'I…I feel like I'm losing myself. Even my memories are starting to fade.' she thought to herself as the darkness seemed to move ever closer to the brown-haired girl.

Though, as she continued to fall, she slowly opened her eyes one more time, as if it would be the last. Yet as she did, she noticed the large rip in her jacket's sleeve. "Hmm?" she hummed out while looking at it this for a long while.

'Oh yeah…I got this from...' she thought while her eyes started to flutter close.

'But then I…' she continued in her mind, yet paused for a moment as if she was starting to realize something.

"Then I…" the teen echoed aloud, to which her eyes snapped fully open and narrowed her gaze on the tear.

Sora's bright blue orbs starting to regain their light, though she the slowly closed them while placing a hand on her chest. This caused the shadows to noticeably bend away from her, making it appear as if she was pushing the darkness away with only her heart. After a brief moment, she slowly took on a smirk as her memories started flooding back into her mind, one after another. Of which allowed her to remember the fact that she purposely increased the size of the rip just before her body disappeared.

"Riku…Kairi…" she whispered out while the shadows suddenly rushed toward her and began covering the teen.

"Wow…I can't believe it really worked. I thought for sure that it was hopeless to keep my memories intact." the brown-haired girl said as her skin seemed to absorb the darkness.

'I figured that once I released Kairi's heart, I'd lose mine as well. So that would mean I would end up becoming a Heartless.' she thought while opening her eyes, which revealed to be completely yellow.

Sora then looked down to the rip once more and slowly took on a smile; 'And while I can't avoid that…if I can keep my memories, I can at least stay in control of myself.' she continued, the darkness turning the teen's skin jet black, as if it was changing her from the inside-out.

But as this occurred, even her clothes and hair quickly took on this color as well. 'Though, thinking about it…just who was that other person I saw? Someone who was falling into darkness at the same time as me?' the teen mused to herself before her whole body was covered in a layer of darkness.

This coating was radiating small streams of dark power, which appeared like black and violet wisps. These coming off of both her arms and even her back, though she barely noticed this as her body finally stopped falling and she sank into the darkness around her. Immediately following this, she emerged from the shadows just outside of the portal within Hollow Bastion.

Yet after finding her bearings, Sora shifted her large yellow eyes from side to side as if looking for something, or someone. "Kai…ri…" she whispered out, her finding it even more difficult to speak than before, despite retaining her memories.

Not long after she managed this out however, the shadow-covered teen spotted the Traverse Town group and Princesses of Heart rushing away from a swarm of thousands of Heartless. Once she saw this, she finally took notice of the huge number of said creatures moving around her like a true army of darkness. Sora then shifted her gaze back toward the group as they all ran out of the Grand Hall, her quickly taking notice of Kairi going with them.

Though the moment she tried to take a step, her foot moved only a few inches forward. The teen's body feeling many times heavier than normal, as if the darkness that made up her current form was a massive weight. However, she didn't bother to stop and think about this as she kept pushing herself to move.

"Kai...ri..." she uttered with the same amount of difficulty as the first time.

While said girl was soon out of sight, Sora continued stepping forward as fast as she could in order to catch up. Yet to her surprise, the further she went, the lighter her body started to feel. This allowing her to start picking up her pace and eventually run as quickly as she normally could so she could reach the group.

'This is new…I felt so weighed down before, but now I feel lighter than ever.' she mused to herself, despite the fact that even making clear thoughts was a challenge with how clouded her mind felt.

However, Sora simply focused as much as she possibly could on reaching her friend. Whom, regardless of having a head start, was noticed with the others in the doorway of the castle's exit. This being where the Beast she had met before currently was as he seemed to be carefully protecting one of the Princesses of Heart. Yet no one in the group was able to go anywhere as a horde of Heartless surrounded them on every side to block any kind of escape.

"We won't be able to fight our way out of this…they'll keep coming faster than we can take them out." Leon stated quickly as he had his weapon out and at the ready.

"Merlin, how much longer until the spell is ready?" Cid asked while hitting one of the Heartless with his long staff, causing the being to just get knocked backward a few feet.

"Just a little bit longer." was all the old man said as he had his eyes closed, him obviously trying to concentrate as much as he possibly could.

"Well hurry up would you?" Reno said in a light panic, to which he hit a Heartless across the face with his steel rod.

This attack barely even fazing the creature as it just stood back up seconds later. "Oh come on! What does it take to beat these things?" the red-haired man growled out while dodging an attack.

Immediately following the man's words, both Cloud and Leon slashed many Heartless with their swords and defeated them with ease. "Ugh…show offs." Reno muttered with a huff while looking between his and the pairs' weapons.

Though, as each member of the group did their best to keep the Heartless at bay, the creatures started to push them all back into a small circle. All the while, the Princesses of Heart were positioned in the very center with everyone else protecting them as best as they could.

"Are you ready now?!" Cid demanded as he glanced to the old wizard over his shoulder.

"Just a few more moments." was all Merlin said, him seeming to be deliberately vague about the amount of time.

However, Sora soon arrived in the hall along with yet another swarm of Heartless, to which her yellow eyes focused on Kairi. Yet she then shifted her head from side to side as she glanced to all the creatures around her. After tensing her shadowy hands, her fingers seemed to grow long claws that gave off similar wisps as the ones on her arms and back.

Within the blink of an eye, Sora's form seemed to become a stream of darkness that zig-zagged through the entire area. By the time she had finally stopped, every other Heartless was gone and left only her remaining. Despite the teen hiding in the shadows off to the side, each of the people in the group turned to look at her in shock.

"Sora?" Kairi whispered as she could easily see the similarities in Sora's appearance.

Upon having her name being spoken, the teen slowly stepped out of the shadows and reached her hand out toward her auburn-haired friend. Kairi quickly did the same as they gradually walked closer to each other, as if knowing something will happen once they made contact. All the while, almost everyone else was just staring at the shadowy form of Sora in pure shock.

Yet, due to everyone being distracted, no one saw the single Heartless that suddenly jumped down from the ceiling and right toward Kairi. It coming within inches of the girl before Sora finally saw it and moved so fast that she all but tackled her friend. While no one saw it clearly, due to her speed, a brief flash of light shined around both girls that made everyone wince in response. Once they looked back to the pair, they just stared in even greater shock than before as their eyes widened.

Not only was Sora back to her normal self, but her whole body was glowing brightly as if with pure light. The attacking Heartless having been destroyed by this power as it simply vanished in a puff of black smoke. Though no one bothered to pay 'that' any mind, as they couldn't even form words in their minds after what they just witnessed.

"Thank you, Kairi." Sora whispered out with a soft smile curling her lips, both her and Kairi just standing there in each others arms.

"Dummy...I should be the one thanking you." the auburn-haired girl responded as she too smiled and even chuckled lightly.

"Holy crap! How did you do that?!" Reno asked in a shocked tone, yet it was basically what everyone else was thinking.

After his outburst however, Sora just huffed to him as she and Kairi ended up pulling away from their embrace. "Read the mood would you?" she muttered a bit bitterly.

"I don't know if I'd share his word choice." Merlin began while gesturing to Reno briefly.

"However, I too would like to know how you were able to not only remain 'you' as a Heartless, but even return back from losing your heart." he continued, all while keeping his finally finished spell in his hand.

Sora blinked to everyone briefly, to which she slowly nodded her head and sighed. "Well...it's not overly complicated." she started, yet immediately turned to the sudden swarm of Heartless that converged around them.

"Lets get to a safe area first." the old wizard said quickly before releasing his spell and engulfed everyone in a large puff of smoke.

This instantly teleporting them into his home in Traverse Town, to which each of the Princesses blinked many times in surprise. Although, Kairi appeared more impressed than surprised as she had seemed to ready herself for just about anything. Sora smiled lightly to this, yet she then shifted her gaze to Merlin and cleared her throat before speaking.

"Well...I knew that it would be impossible to escape turning into a Heartless after I stabbed myself with that Keyblade. But I figured that the least I could do was leave myself some kind of reminder of my memories. I simply hoped that I could remain myself to some degree and continue helping my friends. Even if it meant giving up my heart." she began, to which she tapped her chin briefly.

"Honestly...I'm as surprised as all of you that I turned back. I guess it was just a happy accident that Kairi was able to restore my heart with her light." she continued with a giggle and sheepish smile.

"But why would you do something so reckless?" Kairi asked sharply as she obviously didn't like Sora's course of action.

"Well...you're one of my most cherished friends. How could I ever do, or give, any less than everything I have to save you?" was the brown-haired teen's response, which caused the room to go silent for a few moments.

Each of the men blinked many times to this, yet slowly gave a nod in agreement to her words. Most of the Princesses seemed to look at Sora almost dreamily, yet Kairi was just stared at her friend in shock before blushing lightly. Though she quickly turned away to hide this, she smiled widely and even giggled before speaking up.

"That's just like you, Sora." she whispered in a very happy sounding voice.

As said teen grinned to this, she quickly blinked a few times and glanced around. "Wait a second." she started as she seemed a bit panicked, making everyone snap out of their brief trance.

"Where's Zola?" she questioned as she turned to all of the people nearby, though her gaze instantly went to Merlin as he raised a hand.

"She was with you when you fought with 'Riku', but when your body disappeared she simply dropped out of your hood." he began while pulling the baby leopard from one of his sleeves.

"She was very distressed when you vanished, but I picked her up just before the Heartless were released." Merlin continued, to which Sora quickly took Zola into her arms and hugged the kitten.

Zola herself meowing briefly to the teen before 'purring' in response to being back together with her. All of this making Kairi grin widely and even pet the top of the baby cat's head. "I should have figured you would have a companion." she started with a light giggle and wider grin.

"Though, I never would have guessed it would be a baby leopard." she continued while tilting her head to the side, to which the brown-haired girl smiled sheepishly.

"I couldn't help it." was all Sora could respond with, yet it was all that was needed since Kairi nodded her head in acceptance.

"So...what now?" she continued as she glanced around to everyone.

Each of them looking down in thought as to try and think of what they even could do, now that their mission was a failure. Though no one seemed to say anything for a few moments, Merlin finally spoke up after a clearing of his throat to gain everyone's attention. "Now that the portal has been opened...it will allow a greater number of Heartless, as well as even more powerful ones to invade the worlds."

"So right now...we need to return the Princesses of Heart to their own worlds in order to block the darkness from invading any further." he continued as he stroked his beard a few times.

"It might prove to be difficult, since there will likely be very powerful Heartless trying to force the darkness in. But if each one is defeated, then the darkness can be slowed down long enough for us to seal the door and restore balance." Merlin explained while looking around to everyone, to which many nodded slowly in understanding.

"Alright then, we should split up for this then." Leon suggested as he then started assigning each of the Princesses to a team.

The results being; the team of Cloud and Aerith would return Aurora. Reno and Rude were tasked to bring Snow White to her home. Leon and Yuffie had to get Cinderella back. Cid was to take Belle and the Beast to the place they were taken from. Lastly, Sora, Donald and Goofy were to bring Alice and Jasmine back were they had been kidnapped.

"I'm going with you." Kairi stated to her friend after most of the teams had already left, which had been a while since many were looking Sora over as if still surprised she was actually there.

As the brown-haired girl turned to her and opened her mouth to speak, the other teen just placed her hands to her hips and continued. "Don't even think about telling me that I can't or shouldn't. I'm not about to sit idly by and let you fight for me...especially not when Riku needs our help." she claimed firmly as Merlin had told her the events that occurred to their friend while Leon was assigning the teams.

"Alright alright." Sora began with a smile and wave of her hand; "We agreed to go on our adventure together, so I won't leave you out of it." she said as her smile widened briefly.

"But I want you to train with Merlin for a little while so you can wield magic." the teen continued while gesturing toward the elder man.

"Neither of us want you to be defenseless, so just let him teach you for a while. I promise that you can come with me, but only once he's taught you enough that you can take enemies down on your own. Deal?" she asked, to which she brought out her hand and softened her smile.

Though Kairi looked down at her friend's hand for a few moments, she slowly sighed and nodded her head. "Oh alright...deal." she said as she clasped her hand around Sora's before they parted ways.

Neither one realizing that they wouldn't be seeing one another for quite some time.

* * *

 **Man, this was actually a tough one to write since I couldn't figure out a good ending for a while. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed...let me know if you did in a review. Until next time everyone.**


	43. Olympus Coliseum part IV

**Sorry that this chapter was late. I actually didn't get much time to write it and kinda crammed most of it into one night. So I hope it's still good and that you'll all enjoy it.**

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 43: Olympus Coliseum part IV

Sora let out a heavy breath as she sat silently on a bench inside the waiting room. Her eyes were completely closed as she pondered the events that took place just before arriving at the Coliseum. The teen having first dropped off Jasmine in the palace, before then receiving word of a huge Heartless within the deserts of Agrabah by Aladdin.

Yet despite defeating this creature, its extremely fast blades proved to be a challenge for the brown-haired girl and her friends. However, she didn't think much of this as she simply said her 'farewells' to Jasmine, Aladdin and even Genie. The last of whom had gone off on his own search for Jasmine under Sora's request, only to return back to Agrabah when he couldn't find her.

Once the trio had left this world, they then brought Alice back to the place she had been taken from. But after seeing the blond girl off to her original world, Sora was confronted by a small fairy. Whom of which, had long blond hair that was styled up in a ponytail, blue eyes and insect-like wings on her back. Her outfit consisted of a green, one-piece dress and similarly colored shoes, the latter of which had small white balls near the toes.

Despite not understanding what this fairy was saying, it was apparent when she sprinkled some kind of golden dust on them, that she wanted them to follow her. Upon discovering their ability to fly with this 'fairy dust', they shadowed the fairy until they reached another world. This place was made up of a large town, which had a very tall clock tower near the center. Where of which, Sora saw the outline of a Keyhole upon the face of the clock itself, yet it was clear that it had already been locked.

After seeing this, the three briefly discussed the fact that King Mickey had to have been there. However, their conversation was cut short when a phantom-like Heartless suddenly appeared from the other side of the clock tower. It had appeared as if its body was made up of only a black and white, hooded cloak, which immediately began to attack them in the middle of the air. After a long and tiring battle, the trio claimed victory and made their way back to Wonderland for their ship.

Before doing so however, the fairy had gifted them with another sprinkling of the golden dust and flew off in the opposite direction. Once they returned to Wonderland, the three were then confronted by the Cheshire Cat. This being when and where he gave Sora one last piece of advice that brought her to the Coliseum.

"Half of yourself lost, half of your power drained. If you want to get stronger, then you oughta get yourself trained. So, head to the trainer of heroes to pick up your pace, because it's at the Coliseum that you'll meet an interesting face." Sora spoke aloud as she continued thinking over these words.

Though, her eyes had remained closed as she recalled the Cheshire Cat's next words just before she, Donald and Goofy were about to leave. "But remember…when you become Oblivion's prey, there is but one helpful phrase to say. 'To find is to lose and to lose is to find'."

'But what does that even mean? Not just the phrase...but what even is this 'Oblivion'?' the brown-haired teen thought to herself silently while letting out a heavy breath.

"And why did he suddenly start rhyming? He only spoke cryptically before, but then he began rhyming? I guess there is just no understanding that world...or that cat in general." she added with a huff, to which her eyes slowly opened.

After her comments, Phil came into the room and gestured to the doorway he just came through. "Your next match is set. But be careful…this team of Heartless is made up of nothing but the ones that beat your pals." he said in a warning tone, him sending a glance toward the dazed Donald and Goofy.

These two having been knocked out near the end of the thirty-eighth round, yet they had still fought through all of the previous ones. Though, as Sora stood up and headed out the door, she paused as Phil spoke up yet again. "Remember kid, if you win this match...you get to duke it out with Hades himself. But you still got nine more matches after that, so make sure to conserve your strength."

The brown-haired teen just smirked to him confidently and nodded her head; "Don't worry...I'm winning that trophy." she claimed with a signature thumbs up.

As she walked out into the arena, she glanced around to all of the cheering people in the stands. The girl having become close to a celebrity after going through so many tough rounds, despite the overwhelming odds at times. Her even going one-on-one against Hercules in the tenth round after he easily overpowered Donald and Goofy. Yet as the teen faced the many large, armored Heartless, she let out a heavy breath as she felt a bit exhausted from all the fighting thus far.

'I've limited myself to almost only physical attacks thus far, so I have pretty much all of my magic still stored up. Plus, I have yet to use my dark powers, which means that I should be just fine in taking Hades down with a little more than half of my magic power.' she thought quickly as her eyes narrowed on the creatures in front of her.

Each one being many times larger than her, as well as wore thick armor that protected their entire bodies. However, the teen knew that the most threatening part about these Heartless were the shields they carried, which were shaped like a dog's head. But after fighting them so much, she had also discovered that their biggest weakness is their exposed back. Of which lead for her to hold a hand out and narrow her eyes even more; 'Be precise and conserve power.' she thought to herself while shooting a ball of fire from her palm.

Though, as this came towards the Heartless, the sphere of flames suddenly separated. Each part quickly flying around the creatures and hit them directly in the back before they could even react. This attack defeated all of the Heartless instantly, to which Sora let out a heavy sigh and walked out of the arena. But despite the immediate applause, the teen seemed to be almost sulking with her head hanging down.

'I was off by a few inches with three of the seven fire balls. I knew that doing this sort of thing would be tough, but I didn't think it was going to be 'this' hard.' she mused to herself as she sat back down in her previous spot in the waiting room.

Yet it was here that she once again saw the person whom she was almost worried about fighting. Despite wearing a long black cloak that shadowed their face and appearance in mystery, their mastery of the sword they carried on their back was remarkable. Not only had they made it as far as Sora, but they had done it all on their own without any sign of exhaustion.

From what the girl could tell however, the person was definitely a male judging by their build and the short grunts during their attacks. 'I wonder if I'll get to see what they look like if I make it far enough.' she thought quietly while watching this person fight and beat the same type and number of Heartless as Sora had.

Though he took slightly longer, he did so without any sort of magic and was still only mere seconds behind. This impressing Phil greatly as he continued muttering of how he thought he had seen the person's technique before. But Sora didn't think about this any further as she was eventually called back out for the next match, against Hades himself.

"Well well well...fancy meeting you here." the God of the Dead spoke as he took a step forward.

"Indeed." Sora muttered with a small smirk curling her lips, to which she cracked her neck and readied her Keyblade.

"I've been waiting for this since the tournament started, but now that it's here...it feels underwhelming." she continued with a heavy sigh and shrug of her shoulders.

Hades raised a brow to her in question for a few moments before crossing his arms, to which he gained a somewhat agitated expression on his features. "Oh~? And why is that?" he all but demanded with a slight tilt of his head.

"Because it still won't be over, no matter which of us wins." the brown-haired teen began as she glanced to the cheering crowd briefly.

"There are still nine more fights left to go after this, so it doesn't really feel like a 'final fight' to me." she finished with another shrug.

Though the blue-skinned man raised his brow a bit higher, he slowly nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah...I guess I can see that." he muttered silently before taking on another, yet more sinister smirk.

"But you're gonna have to get through me to get to those other competitors." he claimed before creating two large balls of fire in either of his hands.

Immediately following this, he threw these spheres at the teen, whom easily deflected them and looked down to her Keyblade. 'Now that I think about it, he's the God of the Underworld. So that means he likely wouldn't even be effected by my dark powers to begin with. Which means that I have to beat him with my magic...I just hope that will be enough.' she thought quickly before rolling away from a swirling pillar of fire that Hades sent toward her.

Though, during her roll, Sora's body began to glow a bright yellow before she suddenly vanished from sight. Hades blinked to this a few times, yet he quickly turned around as the teen appeared in the middle of the air with her weapon swinging down at him. But as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, the impact of the girl's Keyblade hitting the ground created a huge flash of lightning. This generating a large sphere of electrical magic that sent small bolts of lightning in nearly every direction.

Despite none of these reaching far enough to hit the amazed crowd, Hades wasn't as lucky due to him remaining on the fighting platform. Of which was now heavily cracked and halfway destroyed from the teen's strike. However, her attack wasn't over just yet, to which the teen then vanished once again. The blue-skinned man quickly looked around for her with a narrowed gaze, but his eyes themselves held a bit of panic in them. Though, he didn't have to look for long as Sora simply appeared in front of him with her Keyblade thrusting into his chest.

Upon contact, a huge blast of lightning magic shot through Hades' entire body and even sent him flying backward. His body hitting hard against the far wall and even created an imprint of his form upon it. He then crumpled to the ground with a light groan in both pain and anger, to which his narrowed eyes focused fully on the teen. "Alright...no more 'Mr. Nice Guy'." he growled out while standing back to his feet.

Once he was up, he generated balls of fire in his hands and spun around quickly. His spinning, paired with the fire shooting at the ground created a pillar of flames around him. As this cleared however, it revealed both his skin and fire-hair to have turned red in color. Yet this reveal didn't seem to impress Sora as she was already on Hades' right side with her Keyblade swinging toward his head.

Even as the God of the Dead ducked under this attack, he couldn't escape the kick that hit him in the chest. This immediately knocking him right back against the wall and even freezing him against it before he could fall down. His eyes had widened to the sudden ice that formed over his chest, yet he quickly figured out what happened when he saw the ice magic surrounding the teen's foot.

"I don't know any water spells yet, but I think ice works just as well. I'll definitely have to remember this for future reference." Sora said with a small smirk on her features.

Immediately following her comment however, the teen had to flip backward as fast as possible. Hades having let out a loud growl, he then engulfed the area around him in fire and melted the ice instantly. He then stepped out of the flames and ground his teeth in frustration while glaring at the girl in front of him. "That's it!" he called out as he raised both hands into the air.

As he did this, he created a dozen fire balls over his head and began shooting them at Sora, one after the other. Said teen dodged out of the way of each of these as she kept her smirk glued upon her features. 'Now 'this' is what I'm talking about...he can create flames so easily and each one is remarkably powerful. I really want him to teach me his powers so that I can do the same with my own magic.' she thought quickly as she continued to roll out of the way of each attack.

The moment all twelve had been fired, Hades growled and generated hundreds more spheres that completely surrounded Sora from every direction. As the teen glanced around to this, her gaze quickly shifted to the God of the Underworld as he threw his hands forward. This action made every single flaming ball shoot right toward the girl at great speed. Yet said teen merely smirked wider as she noticed Hades making another sphere in one of his hands and rushing toward her.

'I need to time this just right.' she thought quickly as she used her free hand to create an 'X' in the middle of the air with magic.

Though at the same time, she tapped her Keyblade on the ground and created a Reflega spell around her. Of which she placed her full concentration in the moment she finished the 'X'. But even with this, the shield around her began to crack heavily under the strain of the powerful flames. However, it instantly shattered the moment Hades drove the fire ball in his hand right through her spell.

"I gotcha now you little..." he started, yet never finished as his body suddenly froze in place.

"Now now...I'm still a child." Sora began as she let out a breath of relief and placed a finger to her lips.

"So no swearing." she finished as the 'X' she created forced a Stopga spell to hit Hades the moment he got close enough to her.

Despite the God of the Dead having a slightly shocked expression, it likely would have turned to near horror as the shattered Reflega spell began to create huge blasts of white magic. Many of these hitting Hades directly as he soon flew backward once more from the impact, though this time, he didn't get back up. The Lord of the Underworld was completely knocked out as he just lay there in a daze, to which Sora was declared the winner.

The teen herself let out a heavy breath as she walked back to the waiting area and wiped some sweat from her brow. 'I used up way more magic than I was expecting...but at least I won.' she thought before sighing and tilting her head down.

'Though...I'm pretty sure neither Merlin or Maleficent would have appreciated my tactic back there. Merlin would have told me not to be so reckless, and Maleficent would have told me to be more precise with my attacks so that they would do more damage to my opponent.' she continued, to which she then lifted her head up to gaze at the ceiling.

"At least I think she'd say that." Sora muttered aloud while tapping her chin a few times.

"I guess I oughta learn a bit more about my new teacher before her next lesson." she said silently with a glance to the side.

Her watching the other people and creatures fighting in the following rounds to show who would move on. Yet her interest wasn't peeked until the mysterious man was back in the arena, whom had won with great ease against another group of Heartless. Though this merely made Sora sigh in response as she knew he would be her opponent soon enough, and she still hadn't recovered as much magic as she was hoping. Which, after defeating seven more rounds of Heartless, their fight became a reality and made the teen briefly gulp down.

Yet the moment she stood across from the man in the arena, she felt her heart starting to pound in excitement. 'Whoa...I haven't felt like this since I fought with Cloud. It's like I know that despite fighting this guy, we're not really going to be enemies.' she thought to herself silently as an unknowing smirk curled her lips.

"I gotta say..." the person suddenly started in an obviously male and almost laid back tone.

"...I originally entered this tournament to fight with an old friend and even teach Hades a lesson. But it looked like you ended up doing both of them before I did." he continued with a light chuckle at the end.

Sora blinked to him many times before she just smiled a bit sheepishly and scratched the back of her neck. "Sorry about that. I guess I ended up having all the fun to myself, huh?" she asked with a giggle, though she quickly started thinking of whom this 'old friend' he referred to was.

"Well...I've been enjoying myself thus far with all the fights, so I don't mind. But I have been pretty eager to fight against you since I saw your first fight." the man said, his tone alone being enough to know that he was smiling under his hood.

"Same here, but then...it's hard not to be when I've seen how good you are." Sora responded as her smirk widened into a full grin.

"Ditto. So how about we exchange names before we start?" he continued, to which the teen raised a brow in question before shrugging and nodding her head.

"Sure...the name's Sora. Nice to meet you." she introduced while gesturing to herself with a thumb.

"It's nice to meet you too, Sora. I'm-" yet he was cut short as the ground suddenly began to shake violently.

Though, it wasn't long until the sources of the rumbling arrived. First was an enormous, two headed creature made up of pure rock. While the second was a very tall, yet thin monster made from solid ice. Yet as the two crawled their way into the arena, the crowd of spectators immediately fled the coliseum. As they left however, Hades appeared between the huge beings and pointed at Sora with a slim finger.

"You haven't won just yet! I'm not gonna let you make it to the final round!" he declared loudly as he soon stepped behind the large creatures.

"So my Titan friends will be putting an end to your winning streak!" Hades continued, yet soon glanced toward the mysterious man with a shrug.

"If you're gonna run, you better do it now, pal." he stated as the Titans loomed over to two in the arena.

"Hmph...I'm not going anywhere. But I'm glad that you woke up, cause now I can get back at you like I intended to from the start." the man claimed as he pointed his sword toward the Lord of the Underworld.

"Oh~? Are you someone who had a bone to pick with me? Cause if you are, you'll have to be pretty specific." was all Hades responded with as he seemed much more relaxed now.

"You forgot about me, huh? Well...let me refresh your memory." the man said before grabbing his hood and tearing his cloak away to reveal himself.

"The name's Zack. Zack Fair...and I'm going to put you back in your place." he continued with a small grin curling his features.

* * *

 ***Le gasp* Yes...it's Zack. I'm giving you guys yet another Final Fantasy character, but don't worry...I'm not going to flood the story with them...much. Just kidding. Anyway, I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know if you did in a review. Even if you didn't, let me know what I did wrong so that I can try to fix it or be more careful about it in the future. Until next time.**


	44. Olympus Coliseum part V

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 44: Olympus Coliseum part V

Zack's appearance was that of a tall, well-built man with sky-blue eyes and black hair. Though his raven-colored locks were a bit long in length, they were styled in thick spikes, as well as bangs that framed his face. His clothes consisted of a dark blue, sleeveless turtleneck, a pair of similarly colored pants, plus a set of black gloves and boots. Along with these, he wore black pauldrons on his shoulders, which were held in place by brown straps that connected to a piece of black armor around his waist. He also had a silver earring in his left ear and a long sword in his right hand, which had a curved golden guard.

"Zack Fair, huh?" Hades began while crossing his arms, yet he soon raised a brow and tilted his head to the side.

"Mmm, nope I got nothin'." he continued in a much less serious tone, causing Zack to nearly fall over comically.

"Sorry kid...I'm drawing a blank here." the Lord of the Dead muttered before uncrossing his arms and placing his hands to his sides.

"I-It's me!" Zack exclaimed while gesturing to his face; "You seriously don't remember me? I fought against you ten years ago!" he continued as he then shifted his pointing to Hades himself in an accusing manner.

"Ten years? Sheesh kid, talk about holding a grudge." the blue-skinned man said silently with a shake of his head.

"Honestly...I deal with thousands of dead people every day and I don't bother to remember any one of their names." Hades started, him letting out a heavy sigh at the end of his words.

"So, unless you're someone I deal with on a constant basis or they prove to be a major thorn in my side...I couldn't care less about them." he continued before shaking his head and shrugging briefly.

Though Zack opened his mouth to speak, both he and Sora quickly jumped away from the feet of the two Titans. These colossal beings appeared to have gotten tired of waiting for this 'conversation' to end, to which they slammed one of their feet down where the pair had just been. After flipping away, Zack and Sora glanced toward each other and slowly gave a nod of mutual understanding.

"I go low, you go high?" the black haired man asked with a small grin spreading on his features.

"Sounds good to me." the teen girl responded as she took on a mirroring expression, to which they both readied their weapons.

Immediately following their agreement, they rushed toward the Titans, Sora staying behind Zack while they did. Though, just as the two-headed mound of rocks swung a fist at them, both jumped to either side. This made the being of ice blast a gust of icy air toward the closest of the pair, which happened to be Sora. However, the teen wasn't affected in the slightest as she created a wall of fire around herself for a brief moment.

As she escaped the Titan's attack, Sora quickly changed direction and started running up the body of the enormous rock creature. All the while, Zack had gotten behind the same Titan before slashing at its legs many times until it began to fall forward. Once it caught itself with its hands, Sora had reached the top of one of its heads and jumped high into the air. The teen's whole body glowed brightly with a blue-white aura as she flipped her Keyblade in a reverse grip.

"Glacier Impact!" Sora called out before her form seemed to dash right down and through the Rock Titan as her aura tracked her fast decent.

Though, the moment she landed on the ground, the entire creature of stone froze over and crumbled to small pebbles. Yet even after this, Zack rush by the teen while calling out; "Switch!"

This sparked for Sora to shoot a silver colored spell at the raven-haired man and then face the Ice Titan head on. Said being quickly blasted another gust of icy wind from its mouth, though this time it was directed toward Zack. However, this did nothing to the man as Sora's previous incantation expanded into a Reflega spell around Zack, just before the Titan's attack hit. Of which allowed him to rush up the back of the creature unharmed and even a bit carefree.

All the while, Sora rushed up between the Titan's feet and jumped a few yards into the air. Yet as she hovered in the air for a brief second, she gathered much Firaga magic and then smashed the ground with it. "Meteor Crash!" she called out while large pillars of fire erupted from the earth, which shattered and melted the Titan's legs to nothing.

At the same time, Zack had jumped into the air upon reaching the ice creature's head and then slashed down upon its back. The attack caused the rest of its body to shatter into small piece of ice that covered much of the arena in a thin layer of snow. Once they glanced to one another, Sora and Zack grinned lightly and even high-fived one another from their victory.

"Alright!" the teen exclaimed as she fist-pumped the air.

"That was awesome!" the raven-haired man added while doing the same.

"Aw man, we have to do this again some time!" Sora stated, to which she and Zack shared another glance as he nodded in agreement.

"Not to break up the mood here, but I'm not gonna let either of you get away with this. You ruined my plans for revenge against the little tyke for beating me before." Hades spoke up with a low growl before pointing at the brown-haired teen.

"Talk about being a sore loser. You still owe me a lesson about how to wield that blue fire." Sora muttered silently, her rolling her eyes at the start.

"You only won by using my own power against me! So I'm not about to teach you anything with such an underhanded trick." he continued as he then crossed his arms across his chest.

"Oh~, look at the pot calling the kettle 'black'." Zack muttered with a small smirk on his features and his free hand going to his hip.

After blinking a few times Hades eventually cleared his throat and looked back to the teen with a hard gaze. "Whatever! The point is, you're not strong enough to handle my fire...so I'm not teaching you squat!" he claimed firmly as his skin soon turned red, along with the flames on his head.

"Now then...I think it's time to finish you off." Hades continued while he created a fire ball in either hand.

During his words and actions, Sora shared a glance with Zack, whom had simply given the teen a nod. "He's all yours." he whispered as he had taken a few steps back and away from the two.

The girl simply smirked lightly as she soon looked toward Hades with a tilt of her head. "So...if I can beat you with only my power alone, you'll teach me your fire technique?" she asked, to which she unconsciously moved herself into a fighting pose.

"Sure kid...whatever." was all the Lord of the Dead said before he threw the balls of fire toward the teen at great speed.

However, the brown-haired girl simply sliced these attacks apart with her weapon and turned to her opponent. "No taking that back now." she muttered as a smirk curled her lips and she unsummoned her Keyblade.

This action confusing Hades for a few moments, yet it was all Sora needed to focus fully on making a magic spell. Said conjuring was formed as the teen moved her left hand through the air to form an 'S' shape with pure white magic. Yet while it appeared similar to her previous 'Magic Blitz' technique, Sora then moved her hand in a wide circle. Her gesture causing the 'S' to become an 'O', which then expanded into a twenty foot large magic circle.

The band then began to gain smaller rings within it, with each one sporting a different design on the inside. All of these were also white in color, yet they appeared almost transparent as they could still be seen through with varying difficulty. But as Sora moved her hands out to either side, the circle suddenly expanded once more as it doubled in size.

While watching this, Zack's eyes widened in a bit of shock along with Hades'. The God of the Underworld having returned back to his normal color as he was fully surprised by this sudden change of events. All the while, both Donald and Goofy had rushed into the arena, them having finally awakened. But they had quickly paused when they saw the huge magic circle right in front of the brown-haired girl.

Sora merely smirked widely to everyone, to which she took in and let out a heavy breath. "This is a very high level spell known as 'Omega Burst'. A combination of two other high leveled spells; 'Magic Blitz' and 'Ragnarok'." she explained, her smirk widening as she looked at Hades.

Whom of which was just glancing between the teen and the huge magic circle, it being like his shock caused him to forget that he was supposed to be fighting her. Yet she didn't seem to give him a chance to remember this as she continued on with her explanation. "I have yet to master either of those techniques, but so long as you know them both...you can use this spell."

As Sora brought her hand out, the magic circle began to turn at a slow pace. Certain rings going clockwise, while others went in the opposite direction. Though, as the brown-haired girl brought her hand out and began to flex it, the turning quickly began to speed up for every section of the circle. This seemed to bring Hades out of his shocked trance, yet he was quickly distracted when Sora spoke up once more.

"But~..." she all but sang out in a very calm tone; "...not without a few consequences."

Upon finishing her words, she fully balled her hand into a fist and caused the magic circle to glow brightly. Immediately after this occurred, huge beams of light began shooting out of the band at an alarmingly fast rate. Each of these hitting Hades at some point or another, despite said man trying to block them with his own power. However, he was quickly overwhelmed within moments as he was engulfed in a bright explosion of pure magic.

"It not only completely drains you of your magic...but you won't even be able to use it again for at least three days. So it's really a 'last resort' type of technique. But since I can use other things aside from magic, I think it's a fair trade for now. Though...I'll definitely miss using my magic until then." Sora stated as she let out a heavy sigh and pouted at the end, to which the magic circle slowly faded away.

This had also allowed the explosion to calm and reveal Hades laying, face-first in the ground. However, he slowly lifted his head up and out of the ground in order to look up to Sora. "Oh fine...you win." he muttered with a groan before allowing his face to fall back into the earth.

Of which now had a perfect indentation of his whole body upon it, though he then brought his hand up slightly. "Tahe meh hah." he muffled out while still having his face in the ground.

"Um...what?" Sora asked with blinking eyes, to which she slowly walked toward the God of the Underworld.

"I said; 'Take my hand.'" Hades corrected as he lifted his head up once more, but only long enough to tell her this as he then simply let his head drop yet again.

Despite raising a brow to this, the teen slowly shrugged her shoulders and took his offered hand. This causing a surge of power to flood the girl, to which blue flames coated her briefly and even made her hair float upward for a moment. "Whoa..." she muttered out as Hades released her hand and let his limb drop once more.

"This feels so much different from my normal magic." the girl continued as she watched these blue flames slowly diminish and sink into her skin.

"That's because I don't use magic." Hades stated, him slowly standing himself up and cracked his seemingly stiff neck.

"I have my own inner power that merely takes the form of fire, so I simply gave you a link to that power. Congrats kid...you can use my fire now, happy?" he continued with a heavy sigh before crossing his arms.

"Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna go home and try to pretend this never happened." the Lord of the Dead finished before turning around and heading out of the arena.

"Thanks Hades~! You're actually really nice deep down in that black heart of yours~!" Sora sang out with a grin, which only made Hades huff in response before disappearing through the doors.

Once he was gone, Sora turned to Zack as he was just grinning at her. "That was amazing Sora! I can't believe you were 'that' powerful! I've still got a lot of training to keep up with you." he claimed while looking at her with an impressed expression.

The brown-haired teen simply smiled sheepishly to him and waved a hand; "It was nothing. It's not really a good technique for a prolonged battle anyway, I'm just lucky that I proved my strength to him. After all...my magic is normally one of my most powerful ways of fighting. And right now, I can't use it at all." she responded, to which she ended up pouting a bit at the end.

Zack blinked briefly to her, yet he soon tapped his chin and tilted his head up in thought. "Hmm...well, I guess that just means we'll have to hold off our match until you're back to one-hundred percent, huh?" he said as his grin returned back to his features.

"Really?" Sora began while blinking a few times in shock; "You're actually gonna wait? But, the tournament-" she started, yet stopped when Zack wave a hand.

"It's fine. If it means fighting you on even terms, I don't mind dropping out of the tournament completely. You can go ahead and face the last opponent, I'm willing to wait for our fight." the raven-haired man claimed, to which Sora continued to look at him in shock for a few more moments.

As the teen looked down in thought, she then glanced toward where her trophies were placed. Though she slowly gained a smile and shrugged her shoulders; "I've won every tournament thus far by beating all of my competition. It wouldn't feel right to skip over my fight with you before getting the trophy." she began as she slowly shook her and and turned back to Zack.

"So...I'll wait too. We'll both enter the tournament next year and settle things then, agreed?" the girl finished, to which the black-haired man slowly smiled back to her and nodded.

"Alright." he said, to which they two high-fived one another; "It's a promise."

"Yeah." Sora whispered as they shared a quick smile before they then headed out of the nearly empty arena.

After their farewells, Zack headed into the town in order to get back to his ship, to which Sora, Donald and Goofy boarded their own vessel in front of the coliseum gates. However, just before they took off, the brown-haired teen noticed a black feather floating down through the air. Despite checking the sky briefly, there was no sign of any possible bird that the feather came from. Yet Sora didn't think about this much as she piloted the ship off and away from the world.

"What and interesting child." a voice spoke up silently from the shadows of the coliseum.

Meanwhile, Sora let out a heavy breath and even groaned slightly; "After all that hard work...we came up with nothing~!" she all but whined out as she leaned back in her seat.

"Well...at least ya made a new friend, right?" Goofy said with a finger raised as to try and further his point.

"Yeah, that's true. But I guess I was hoping to actually leave knowing that we had won the last trophy." Sora said while flying the Gummi ship past multiple worlds.

"Same here." Donald muttered as he let out a heavy sigh, him leaning his cheek against his featured hand.

"At least we all left a bit stronger than when we came in." Goofy added, him seeming to be finding a 'silver lining' to everything.

Though both Sora and Donald seemed to want to keep finding negatives, they couldn't help but nod in agreement to their friend's words. "I guess you're right." the white duck uttered during his own nod.

As the ship flew on through the space between the worlds, Sora glanced to the side with a tilt of her head. The teen feeling something within her starting to pull, as if there was an invisible force that was compelling her to go somewhere. 'Never felt 'this' before. Did I become more 'in tuned' with things now that my magic power is out of the way?' she thought briefly as she looked down.

"Something wrong Sora?" Goofy asked, to which he leaned forward to try and look at the teen's face a bit better.

"Hmm? Yeah...of course, why do you ask?" she asked quickly with blinking eyes.

"You suddenly started steering the ship in another direction." the dog stated as he pointed the way they had been traveling before.

"Traverse Town is 'that' way." he continued, to which Sora blinked a few more times as she glanced between her two routes.

'This way leads to Hallow Bastion, but why would I feel the 'pull' coming from there?' she questioned in her mind before turning the ship back on track.

However, in doing so, the teen suddenly felt as if everything she was doing was utterly wrong. This making her close her eyes as if trying to block this out, yet the next thing she knew, both Goofy and Donald were calling out her name. "Sora! We're heading toward Hallow Bastion!" the duck called out while pointing to said world as it came into view, which caused her to snap her eyes open.

"Aren't we supposed to be going to Traverse Town so that we can get everyone organized for another attack?" Goofy added as both he and his other anthropomorphic friend looked at the girl with worried expressions.

"I-I know...I just..." the teen began as she stared at the world below with a narrowed gaze; "I feel something there...I need to know what it is." she finished, to which she then flew the ship down and landed it near of the entrance of the castle.

"You guys fly back to Merlin, tell him that I'm clearing a path for him and everyone else." Sora said before opening the dome on the top and jumping out of the ship.

"But Sora-" Goofy began, but was cut off as the teen raised a hand to him.

"I'll be fine...this is just something I have to do on my own." the girl said, her looking to her friends with an almost pleading expression.

"Please." she added silently, which made Donald slowly nod his head in response and close the dome before Goofy could try and say anything further.

"Good luck Sora!" the duck called out as he flew the ship up and away from the world, likely with his dog friend complaining about leaving Sora behind.

Said girl then looked through the eerily empty entrance and let out a heavy breath; "Now...what was it that called me here?" she whispered silently while heading inside, her never noticing the hooded figure standing only a few feet behind her.

* * *

And there you have it, Olympus Coliseum is finished for this part of the story, now we're entering the final parts. I'm not quite sure if it'll be true, but I'm thinking that KH I, of this story, will be finished by chapter 50. Though, we'll have to see if I can fit everything into the last six chapters. ;) Anyway, if you're wondering about the whole 'magic circle' deal, it's because I saw Sephiroth using one to come fight you in the game. I figured that I'd incorporate a bit of that sort of thing into the story since it's never really used. I'm not going to use it to any extreme, just enough to show that it is a 'thing' that happens. And if you want to know what it looked like, you can image search 'Magic Circle' and that'll give you a good idea of what it looked like. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed...also, a quick 'thank you' to all my reviewers, you're the only reason why I continue this story. So thanks for reading and let me know what you thought and...until next time.


	45. Hollow Bastion part IV

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 45: Hollow Bastion part IV

Footsteps echoed softly throughout the castle as Sora's ever watchful gaze shifted from room to room. The teen trying not to make any noise as best she could, her wanting to be able to listen for any other sounds around her. However, no matter what she did, she was making the only clamor in the entire castle.

This seemed to unnerve the brown-haired girl as she continued on her way; 'Something is very wrong.' she began in her mind while looking inside another empty room.

'Not only is the 'pull' I felt weakening, but I feel like I'm being watched.' the teen mused, to which she glanced behind her briefly.

'I knew this was probably a trap…but now I'm actually a bit nervous about it.' Sora thought before arriving in the same hall she fought against Maleficent.

But while she didn't see anything new at first, her gaze quickly snapped to the side as a sudden swirl of darkness appeared in the shadows. The brown-haired girl quickly narrowed her eyes and jumped across the mostly shattered floor in order to reach this. "Maybe I should have let those two come with me." she muttered silently with a brief gulp, to which she then touched the swirl in front of her.

Upon doing this, Sora was instantly sucked into the portal and then brought out into a new room that she had yet to see. This area was a large hall that had a dome-shaped roof, yet it had many holes in it from large plant overgrowths. But as the teen looked around, she just let out a heavy breath when no one appeared to be in sight.

'He's gonna be right there the moment I turn around, isn't he?' she thought quickly to herself, to which she slowly turned around.

However, as she did so, all that could be seen was the swirling portal that brought her there and some more overgrowth. This caused her to blink a few times, yet she quickly went wide-eyed when a hooded figure had materialized directly in front of her. As it did, the person immediately walked right through her as if it were a ghost of some sort. Though, upon its actions, Sora let out a brief yelp of fright.

But she had been cut short as many memories flooded her mind, all of which were her own. These ranged from her time in Destiny Islands, all the way to her words toward Donald and Goofy just less than an hour ago. The moment these memories stopped, she quickly turned around and looked at the hooded figure with narrowed eyes.

"Hmm, it seems you are indeed quite special." the figure spoke in a very deep and masculine voice, yet it held a sophistication and chill that Sora never encountered before.

At the same time, his voice seemed somewhat familiar to her as he continued to walk to the opposite side of the room. Though, it hadn't taken her long to realize where she recalled hearing a very similar voice to his. "Ansem." she growled out as she summoned her Keyblade instantly.

"That name rings familiar." the man whispered out while finally stopping and turning around to face the teen.

"What do you mean by that? It's that 'your' name?" Sora questioned with slightly narrowed eyes, yet received no response as the figure just seemed to stare at her for a few moments.

"You really are his 'true self'." was all he said before a sphere of electricity appeared in his left hand.

This making the teen's eyes narrow heavily, to which the moment the man shot this lightning toward her, she brought her own free hand out. Despite the power of this magic being quite strong, she still caught it for a few seconds. During of which she glared at the figure, to which she then redirected the attack up and into the ceiling. Of which nearly gave out from under the strain of having a large section being reduced to rubble.

"What did you mean by that? Whose 'true self' am I?" Sora demanded as she pointed her Keyblade toward him.

"You are an incomplete being, but still of use." he began, his first few words making the teen feel almost sick to her stomach for a few moments.

The brown-haired girl seemed to look down thoughtfully, as she felt as if she should have known what he was talking about. However, she quickly looked back to him when he spoke up once more, yet his voice seemed much more sinister than before.

"Allow me to test your strength." the man finished before he suddenly generated a red beam in either hand and charged toward her.

Sora herself just ground her teeth before ducking under one of the beams and blocking the other with her own weapon. 'He's fast.' she thought quickly before she swept her leg forward to try and hit one of the man's legs.

However, he had already jumped into the air and seemed to suspend himself upside down for a few moments. While doing this, he created a series of five orbs of darkness, all of which blasted toward the teen at great speed. Though the brown-haired girl deflected or dodged away from each of these, she was then kicked hard in the back as the man got behind her in an instant.

Sora had tried to balance herself and face her opponent, yet he was already in front of her and knocked her straight into a wall with a simple backhand. After her impact, the teen groaned lightly and stood back up, yet it was much slower than she normally would have. Once she did however, she looked at the man and could tell without even seeing his face, he was mocking her.

"Alright then…I guess you're not someone I can take lightly." she whispered as her whole body was engulfed in a black aura, all while her eyes turned gold in color.

"Let's do this." she continued before vanishing from sight and appearing right in front of the man with her Keyblade swinging toward his face.

Although, midway through her strike, the man had moved backward enough to dodge and even began to swing a kick toward her. This made Sora's eyes narrow in response as she had to immediately duck under his attack the moment he was out of range of her own. Yet she didn't give up as the teen quickly pulled her weapon to her side and propelled it forward in a Sonic Blade.

However, this never hit its target as the figure simply side stepped out of the way and even delivered a blast of darkness into the girl's right side. Whom had stumbled to the left before falling painfully to the floor, yet she still managed to get right back up on her feet. Though Sora appeared a bit wobbly, the man didn't move to attack her as if he was mocking her once again.

'This guy is a heck of a lot stronger than I anticipated. It might have been a bad idea to start a fight with this guy before my magic came back. Then again, he'd likely be able to counter it regardless.' she began in her mind as she steadied her stance and took in a few deep breaths.

'Maybe I should try using Hades' fire? No...I have no idea of how wield or control it. Meaning I could end up burning myself and making things worse, so I better just stick with my Darkness.' Sora continued quickly, her starting to wince slightly in pain with each breath now that she couldn't heal herself.

'Though, from what I can tell...it seems that he can predict my moments. At least when it comes to my attacks anyway. He didn't even seem to react when I got in front of him, so maybe I just need to keep moving at that speed in order to prevent him from countering.' she mused silently before her eyes narrowed once more and she immediately vanished once more.

But just like before, the moment the teen charged toward the man at great speed, he managed to duck under her Keyblade's swing. This made her eyes narrow even further, to which she immediately stopped and turned around to continued her assault. Yet she had to stop her momentum completely to do so, allowing the man to appear in front of her instantly. Once he had, the figure then slammed both red beams into the teen's stomach with great force.

Upon impact, Sora went flying into the air, almost reaching the ceiling while doing so. The teen herself being left in a daze, as if the pain of the latest attack hadn't hit her just yet. However, the moment the man jumped into the air beside her, this haze cleared and opened up for a feeling she hadn't felt for a while; terror.

Slash after slash. Shock after shock. The seemingly never ending feeling of pain and torment filled the girl's body as the figure continued his midair attack. But after what felt like an eternity, Sora finally slammed limply onto the floor with an almost sickening thud. All the while, the man landed silently on his feet just to the side, to which he turned toward her briefly.

"How disappointing, it seems you are not as promising as hoped." he said quietly before he started walking away.

'I…' Sora thought briefly in her mind as her eyes slowly began to close, the teen's consciousness fading.

'…I can't beat this guy. He's on a completely different league.' she continued as her eyes closed fully.

Yet just before everything became black, an image of Riku and Kairi flashed in front of her. This made her eyes snap open and slowly start to get up, albeit very painfully. "Where do you think you're going?" she growled out while looking at the man, whom slowly turned to face her.

"Round two is just starting." Sora claimed as she solidified her stance and ground her teeth together tightly.

"I made a promise to my friends…and I'm not going to break them." the teen stated before she started to walk forward, though she quickly picked up speed the further she went.

Despite the figure staying perfectly still, it was obvious that he waiting to see what sort of power or technique the girl would show him. Yet to his surprised, just before Sora was about to attack with her Keyblade she dismissed her weapon. Immediately following this, the girl was engulfed in an even thicker aura of darkness and her form vanished from sight.

The moment she had however, the man was knocked backward from a seemingly invisible impact. This lead for him to look from side to side as even he appeared to have lost sight of the girl. Whom was then seen as nothing but a blur of black mass moving at great speed around and toward the figure. Though, even after he managed to see her movements once more, most of her attacks were too fast to be avoided.

Sora kept moving at top speed as she rushed toward her opponent, to which she hit the back of both legs with a kick. Upon him falling to his knees, the teen then came at him from the left with a palm to the side of his face. The blow sent the man tumbling off to the side, though even after getting back to his feet instantly, he was sent backward. This time, the brown-haired girl summoned her Keyblade at the last second and rammed it hard into his chest.

Once the teen had connected with this blow, she immediately ran toward the man yet again. Sora quickly unsummoned her weapon and began to hit her opponent with blindingly fast strikes to his midsection. Though each one wasn't particularly strong, the sheer number of them caused more than enough damage as the man was knocked onto his back.

However, Sora could feel the darkness starting to drain her strength very quickly as she hadn't ever used this much of her dark power for such an extended period of time. Yet she didn't bother thinking about this as she just let out a growl and summoned up more energy. Immediately following this, she then jumped so high into the air that she landed her feet on the roof directly above.

After her shoes touched the surface, Sora instantly jumped straight down toward her opponent. The area she had been being blown away from the sheer force of her jump, to which she blasted herself down at the floor. Her speed being doubled compared to before as her very skin began to turn black in color the more darkness she used. But she still didn't bother to notice this as her full attention was on the man, whom was slowly standing up.

Yet he was then struck by a barrage of attacks that seemed to come from every direction all at once. Sora instantly changing direction during her decent before rushing her opponent from the side. Then she came at him again, and again, and again, and again. Over and over again, the teen hit the hooded figure with everything she possibly could. Even going as far as simply slamming her shoulder against him just to knock him off balance.

Though, by the end of it, the teen paused briefly on the opposite side of the hall as her eyes narrowed heavily. She instantly began to gather all the remaining dark power within her into a condensed ball between her two hands.

"Let's see if you can handle this." she whispered before blasting herself toward the man at an equal speed as before.

But once she had gotten close enough, the brown-haired girl summoned her Keyblade. This brought all the energy she gathered to its tip, of which she slammed into the figure's chest with all her strength. The resulting explosion of darkness caused the entire fortress to shake, the roof of the hall to shatter to nothing and for any part of the castle close enough to be vaporized.

As all this slowly died down, it revealed Sora to be kneeling on the ground with her Keyblade becoming her only support. All the while, the man staggered backward with a noticeable wound in his chest that was letting off a strange energy. The teen slowly smirked to this as she knew he definitely felt that attack if nothing else. However, her expression turned to utter shock when the energy just stopped and showed the wound to be completely gone.

'He faked it?! This guy...he's on a completely different league than me, or anyone I've encountered before!' the brown-haired girl screamed in her mind as she continued to look at the figure in utter shock.

"Most impressive, your power is exactly what I need. This will be most enjoyable." he spoke out silently, his tone alone making it clear that he must have been smirking.

"What are you?" Sora whispered almost to herself, the girl still being in disbelief that the man just shrugged off her attack like it was nothing.

"It is beyond your comprehension, for now. Until we meet again, Keyblade wielder." was all he responded with before his form simply vanished from sight just as quickly as it had come.

Immediately after he was gone, the brown-haired teen just collapsed to the floor and just rolled onto her back to look at the ceiling. 'I can't believe someone as powerful as him exists. Nothing I did even fazed him and I used every last ounce of power I could muster. I doubt that even if I had my magic, the result would have been any different.' she thought to herself while slowly closing her eyes in exhaustion.

'Though...if I did have my magic, I probably could have kept rejuvenating myself until I wore him down. But then again, who knows if 'that' would have even worked.' Sora continued as she let out a heavy sigh.

"He was just too strong for me." she muttered aloud before opening her eyes and glancing to the portal of darkness still visible nearby.

'I guess I better keep moving. Now that he's gone...the Heartless might suddenly start pouring in, and I definitely can't appear to be weak when they show up.' the teen thought before sluggishly standing herself up.

Upon doing so, she briefly wobbled from side to side, yet she remained standing with the help of her Keyblade. The brown-haired girl then walked to and through the black swirl, which brought her back to the original room. Yet as she looked around, she began to feel a slight pull once more, which lead for her to head into the Grand Hall. This being where Sora saw Maleficent kneeling on the floor in front of the huge portal, to which the girl muttered the woman's name.

"Ah...it seemed that you're finally here." the witch muttered, making the teen's eyes widen briefly as it was now clear that Maleficent was the one to call her there and not the man.

"Y-Yeah...I got a bit held up." Sora muttered silently, her trying to hide the fact that she barely had much strength to stay on her feet.

However, with a closer examination, the woman herself seemed to also be completely exhausted and wasn't even able to stand. "Well, regardless..." Maleficent began as she leaned on her staff briefly with a heavy, and worn-out breath.

"...I called you here because I want you to get revenge for me against that cursed Ansem. He managed to double-cross me a split second faster than what I was going to do to him." she continued, which made Sora briefly sweat drop in response.

"So I have saved up as much power as I could in order to transfer it over to you. Now come and take my hand, I don't have much time remaining." the woman finished, to which as the teen did as she said, she blinked many times at her words.

"You mean...you're going to die?" she questioned in a rather sad tone, regardless of what happened between them, Sora still seemed to care.

"Of course...but worry not, I will be resurrected soon enough and then your next lesson will be called into practice." Maleficent claimed as a blaze of black and green fire surged through Sora.

"Right, I'll make sure to put that bastard in his place." the brown-haired girl declared as her eyes narrowed slightly, her seeming to have become very determined.

"Excellent, but you should know...he has forsaken your friend's body and taken up his own. So when you see him again, he won't have the same face as before." the witch added quickly as her eyes slowly closed.

"That makes it even easier then." Sora muttered out as she looked at her teacher.

Though at the same time, a few sparks of green-colored lightning cracked around their clasped hands. Which served as the last bit of power the witch still held, yet it was enough to restore a great amount of the teen's own strength. This making her feel much more confident as she could even feel a small amount of magic within her, despite it being the woman's and nod her own.

"Now go and defeat him!" the witch all but ordered, to which Sora just nodded and rushed toward the portal without even questioning her.

"Hmph...foolish girl." Maleficent muttered while a sinister smirk curled her lips just as her body disappeared and left only her long cloak.

* * *

 **Man, this was another tough one to get through. I kept rewriting the fight since I felt like there wasn't enough to it, but I guess this will have to do. I just hope that the rest of the chapter didn't suffer because of how much I concentrated on it. Let me know in a review of what all of you thought. Until next time everyone.**


	46. End of the World part I

**Sorry for not posting this last week, a lot of problems arose for me and I couldn't work on it at all. Though, things have smoothed over since then, so the next chapter shouldn't be late at all. Maybe...probably...don't quote me on that. Anyway...on with the chapter~!**

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 46: End of the World part I

As Sora walked into the portal made up of a swirl of colors, it lead into a bizarre world that was nothing but these strange hues mixing together. Yet the sheer vastness of the area made the teen look around with an amazed expression on her features. "Whoa...this is kinda weird, yet cool at the same time." she whispered out as a small smirk curled her lips.

However, after looking up and around the whole area, she soon shifted her gaze directly ahead of the portal. This being where the brown-haired girl saw a large glowing symbol in the middle of the air, which held an exact resemblance to the one Sora had seen on many of the Heartless. But it was the Keyhole in the center of this that made her slowly gain a smile. 'I know I said it before, but it once again feels like it's been a while since I've done this.' she thought to herself while summoning her Keyblade and pointing it toward the hole.

Within seconds of her actions, a beam of light shot from her weapon and went through the Keyhole. This made a locking noise just before the symbol and hole simply vanished from sight. Though moments afterward, Sora then noticed a swirl of black and green energy just behind where the Keyhole had been.

"So this is where they had gone." the teen muttered to herself while taking a step forward.

Yet, the brown-haired girl quickly tilted her head up as she immediately sensed something coming toward her from above. Upon seeing an enormous Heartless dropping from the air, Sora let out a light groan. "Oh come on." she muttered before jumping and rolling out of the way.

Despite the huge beast missing her, the brown-haired girl was shaken to the ground as it quaked violently under her. The teen immediately flipped back to her feet and faced this new opponent with her weapon at the ready. "It's always something, isn't it?" she whispered silently with a brief sigh.

The Heartless was a massive, quadrupedal creature with a mainly cyan color. Its back legs and upper head were navy blue, while its feet became dark grey. Both the Heartless' toes and horn upon its head were a deep crimson red, yet became black near the base. In addition, the upper half of its long and curved tusks had an ice-blue hue to them. These protrusions however, sprouted from its lower jaw that held three distinct teeth between the large tusks.

Like most other Heartless, it had fully yellow eyes, yet it also had the same emblem is on its chest that only select few of them seemed to have. Though, as this beast let out a silent growl, it then turned toward the brown-haired girl. Upon doing this, it then took in a deep breath and let loose an ear splitting roar that echoed loudly around them. Despite this however, Sora simply smirked lightly and moved into a proper fighting pose.

"Oh~, you're a big one..." she started as the beast turned to her and began to charge like a rhinoceros.

"...I've fought bigger." the teen finished before bringing her Keyblade forward slightly.

However, midway through the Heartless' attack, the brown-haired girl tilted her head down slightly in thought. 'No...I need to conserve my power.' she mused, to which she quickly jumped out of the way of her opponent's strike.

'I've gotten too comfortable with just lashing out and using up as much power as I feel like.' Sora continued as she turned around once her attacker rushed by.

'I think I'm finally understanding Maleficent's words about being precise and controlling my attacking power.' the girl thought, her slowly backing away from the Heartless as it came to a sliding stop and spun around.

'I normally have a huge amount of power that makes me feel overconfident in my abilities. But then, once I'm limited...I can barely do anything because I use up all my energy too quickly. Now...without access to my magic and only about forty-percent of my dark powers, I'm as limited as I've ever been since I've left my island.' she continued before watching the Heartless come charging back toward her.

'I have to be smart and use more tactic to win instead of just powering my way through everything.' she finished as a small smirk curled her lips, an idea obviously coming to her.

Yet, rather than leaping to the side in order to dodge the Heartless' next 'head-bash', Sora simply allowed herself to fall backward and onto the ground. Upon doing so, the beast just went right over the teen, whom took on a grin and placed a hand to the 'floor'. "Hit its legs on my count." she whispered as a brief black swirl appeared around her hand.

After her words, Sora stood back up and turned toward her opponent once more. The brown-haired girl's grin remaining on her features, which caused the Heartless to growl and roar at her in frustration. Midway between it's echoing roar, the creature began yet another charge toward Sora, but with even greater speed this time. The teen herself merely stood completely still as her eyes narrowed slightly on her attacking foe.

'Its large head and upper body are its main source of strength, however...all of that is focused on the front of its body. Which means that if you attack from behind and strike even just one area with enough power...this thing will go down.' Sora thought while bringing her free hand to the side slightly.

Once the Heartless was close enough, the teen snapped her fingers loudly, which created a small echo through the area. This prompting both of the girl's Heartless to move in from either side of the larger beast and strike its legs with a swift slice. The two appearing like a pair of black blurs across the ground before vanishing once they passed by either of the legs they attacked.

Immediately following this sudden strike, the huge Heartless roared out in pain before falling the floor and sliding toward the teen. Whom simply remained still for a few moments before jumping up and over the beast. She then used its head as an extra push to flip around in midair and point her Keyblade down at the creature's back. At the very top of her jump, Sora then shot a small, yet highly concentrated burst of darkness into the middle of the Heartless' spine.

Upon landing on the ground, Sora let out a heavy breath as she slowly turned around to look at her now stunned opponent. All the while, the two Heartless at her command slowly emerged from the darkness on either side of her. Though while looking at the large beast, the brown-haired girl tilted her head to the side as she blinked a few times.

'Huh...it's strange. I must be more 'in tuned' with the darkness now that I don't have my magic, cause right now...I feel like there is something I can or should do to this Heartless.' she thought while slowly walking toward the huge being.

As she circled around to its front, Sora ended up blinking many more times as the Heartless in front of her seemed to whimper silently in pain. This lead for her to look to the emblem on its chest as it seemed to be pulsating a black aura. 'The symbol...it feels like there is something inside of it that needs to come out.' the teen continued in her mind as she made her way to this emblem.

The moment she reached out and touched this black and red symbol, Sora felt a flood of darkness enter into her. This threw her senses into high gear as it felt like an adrenaline rush that caused her eyes to turn gold and even begin to glow. "This power..." she whispered before the emblem just seemed to vanish from the Heartless' body.

"...it felt exhilarating, yet..." the girl continued while tilting her head down in thought, as if trying to think of the right word.

"...artificial?" Sora uttered, her not being entirely sure if 'that' was the proper way of explaining it or not.

'I guess it's a good enough description as I can think of.' she stated in her mind as she looked to the Heartless.

Of which shifted its large head to look at her directly, to which Sora blinked a few times as if somehow understanding it. "Did I...cleanse you?" she asked silently while looking down to her hand.

'I never really thought about it before, but maybe I have more abilities with darkness than I thought. I was so caught up with learning magic, that I neglected the powers that I gained with the Keyblade.' the teen thought as she shifted her gaze to the weapon in her opposite hand.

"I never really thought about my control over the Heartless before...I just sort of believed it was a simple ability that I had from the start. But maybe it's much deeper than what I had expected." she muttered, to which she tilted her head up to look at the huge Heartless once more.

All the while, the two smaller ones slowly made their way to the brown-haired girl's side once more. Yet Sora didn't seem to pay attention to them as she slowly brought her free hand out to the huge beast. "Come with me." she all but ordered in a firm tone.

"You might not be a natural Heartless, but I've cleansed you of that. So follow me and I'll take care of you." the teen continued as the creature seemed to pause for a moment before slowly tilting its head toward her.

This allowed its head to touch Sora's hand, which created a brief surge of dark energy and allowed for the beast to slowly disappear into the shadows under it. Upon it vanishing, the brown-haired girl looked to her hand once more and slowly took on a grin. "Oh...my...gosh!" she exclaimed in excitement, to which she nearly began to bounce on the tips of her toes.

"I can't believe I have another awesome ability like this~!" Sora all but sang out, to which she just continued to grin wider and wider.

"I've gotta find out more about my dark powers~! There are still so many things I don't know about them yet~! Like...what if I have an ability to create huge tornadoes of darkness that shoot out black lightning at those that get sucked up~!" she said while her excitement just seemed to grow more and more.

"Aw man...that would be awesome~!" the teen continued, yet soon paused and blinked when she saw her two smaller Heartless still standing nearby.

"Oh...um..." she began as a deep blush colored her cheeks; "...that'll be all." the girl finished quickly while looking away in her embarrassment.

Despite her words, the two Heartless just continued to stare at Sora for a few extra moments before finally disappearing into the shadows. Afterward, the teen let out a heavy breath and glanced toward the portal leading into the next area. 'I'm so glad that they can't tell anyone else about that.' she thought to herself while walking toward this next pathway.

Upon going through it however, the brown-haired girl was immediately met with a completely new world. Yet this one appeared to have a purple sky that held a bright light near the end of the horizon. There was also a thin lay of water that surrounded the area she currently stood, while small stones could be seen just above the surface. But even more odd still, there were large, yet thin boulders that almost appeared to be hovering over the water.

"Whoa...what kinda place is this?" Sora muttered to herself while looking around in amazement.

Instantly following her question, she heard her own voice echoing out across the landscape as it seemed to give off an eerie feeling. However, this didn't appear to effect the teen as she simply took her first few steps across the thin layer of water. Her feet causing the liquid to ripple in wide bands, to which the wet steps also echoed softly around the teen.

"It almost feels like this is the end of something." she whispered out, yet no matter how silent she spoke, her voice still resonated in the vast area.

"You're not far off." Goofy's voice suddenly spoke up from behind, causing Sora to turn quickly to both him and Donald.

"These are what are left of the worlds taken by the Heartless." the duck stated while gesturing to each of the stones sticking out of the water.

But the brown-haired girl barely paid attention to their words as she seemed more shocked as to how and why the pair were there. Yet, she didn't have to wait long for an explanation as Goofy came up next to her. "We actually arrived inside the portal just as you went through that one." he began while pointing to the swirl of black and green behind them.

"It was rather tough to get inside the castle since it seemed that all the Heartless had swarmed outside." the dog continued while scratching the side of his head.

"Yeah...and there was a huge barrier surrounding the fortress, which prevented any of us from getting inside." Donald added, him coming up to the opposite side of the teen.

"So Merlin broke the spell long enough for the two of us to get through and help you out." Goofy stated with a small smile.

"Unfortunately, Kairi couldn't get through in time. But it seems that she's been able to use some pretty amazing spells, so she'll be safe for the time being. Especially now that you've sealed the Keyhole to Hollow Bastion." the duck said, him giving a light shrug at the start as he looked up to Sora.

"That's right. She's gotten really good with all of the basic forms of magic, so she can definitely handle herself...especially with all the others at her side." the dog said as he continued to smile at the teen.

However, said girl just kept blinking at the two of them as if still hardly believing that they had caught up with her. Yet she slowly let out a heavy breath and nodded her head in response; "I really gotta stop missing out on things." she muttered silently as despite having her own remarkable events, she liked it better to have her friends around.

"Well...you're the one who ran off." Donald stated with a brief huff, making Sora smile a bit sheepishly and scratch the back of her head.

"Oh! Speaking of which..." Goofy started with a tilt of his head; "...did you ever find out what it was that you were looking for? Or had to do?"

The teen blinked to him for a moment before opening her mouth to speak, but she paused and tilted her head down in thought. 'Maybe I shouldn't mention the man in black just yet. He's way out of our league right now, so there is no point in discouraging them in finishing this whole fight.' she thought quickly, to which she then cleared her throat.

"Well...it turned out that it was Maleficent who was calling me." she started, making the pair look at her in shock while repeating the witch's name.

"Apparently she was double-crossed by Ansem...the guy who stole Riku's body. So she called me here in order to try and exact revenge on him." the brown-haired girl continued with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Then again, we were going to beat him anyway...right?" she finished while gaining a wide grin on her features.

This made the two blink to her for a brief moment before nodding in response and mirroring the teen's expression. "Yeah! Lets go kick his butt and save the worlds!" Donald exclaimed in excitement and enthusiasm.

"Alright, lets do this!" Sora called out with the same emotions as her feathered friend, to which they all brought their hands out to connect with each others.

"All for one..." the teen started, to which all three finished the phrase in unison; "...and one for all!"

Immediately following this, the trio raced toward the bright light at the end of the horizon. None of them knew that this would be the last time they would be together for quite some time. For the gates of Oblivion awaited them all. But for the one who would soon be left behind, they would mark the beginning of something truly horrifying as a terrible truth is revealed.

* * *

 **There you have it, a bit more revealed about Sora's abilities...a bit of exposition for what is to come and now the end of the first game is drawing near. ;) I hope all of you are still enjoying this story, leave a review letting me know what you thought and have an awesome day/afternoon/night. Until next time.**


	47. End of the World part II

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 47: End of the World part II

The trio looked up to the huge swirl of white as they finally reached what had previously been the horizon. Though, it simply turned out to be a large portal of some sort that would lead into yet another unknown area. But upon stepping through, Sora immediately felt herself starting to fall forward. Which was such a strange sensation that she didn't even realize what was happening until she had already stepped fully through the portal.

Of which brought her into a vast void that she instantly began to fall through at an alarming rate. Once she realized what occurred, she let out a very girlish scream before quickly remembering the fact that she could fly. As she did however, her decent slowed at first before finally stopping when golden sparkles appeared around her.

"That was a close one." she whispered to herself while letting out a heavy breath, as well as calmed her fast heartbeat.

But the teen didn't have much time to do this, her looking up at Donald and Goofy as they fell right toward her. Despite immediately moving out of the way, she managed to catch the two by one of their hands and prevent them from falling any further. "Happy thoughts you guys." she strained out as she held onto them as tight as she could.

"We still have that pixie dust from Tinkerbell...remember? We can fly." Sora continued, to which the two slowly closed their eyes and began to float up next to the brown-haired girl.

Whom smirked softly at them and let out another sigh, though this one was more in relief. "Man...that was a bit surprising, but it's a good thing we still have this ability. Otherwise..." the teen stated, yet let the rest of her words hang as the other two simply nodded in understanding.

"Well..." she began again, allowing her previous words to just drop; "...we better figure out where to go from here."

"Yeah, I wonder where Ansem could have run off to in a place like this." Goofy said silently as he glanced around the strange area that they all finally got a good look at.

It was a never ending void of dark colors, all of which appeared like fast moving winds that were moving storm clouds through the landscape. But the more they shifted their gaze from side to side, nothing else seemed to 'pop out' at them. This place almost felt like it was meant to be some kind of prison that couldn't, or shouldn't be disturbed.

"Hey..." Donald began, gaining the other two's attention as he pointed to the side; "What's that over there?" he finished as each of them narrowed their eyes.

Though they all began to drift closer toward this direction unconsciously, they were soon able to clearly see what the duck had noticed. It was a huge mountain of some sort in what likely could have been the center of the whole void. Despite not knowing what might lay ahead, the trio just flew closer and closer to this tall rock formation. Of which was the only sign of anything different or new, as the way they came in simply vanished. Or it could have been possible that it just wasn't visible, much less accessible, from this side.

However, the moment they arrived directly over the mountain, the three paused and looked at the very top. Said part was shaped very strangely, as if it didn't actually belong to the alp itself. But while they each questioned this within their minds, none of them would need to get a better answer than what they saw firsthand.

The same area they thought to be peculiar from the mountain, suddenly began to move. This revealing an enormous being with burned black skin, huge bat-like wings and a humanoid figure. Yet it's head and face were closer to that of a demon as it had two horns just beside it's pointed ears. The creature's purely yellow eyes filled the trio with such great fear that each of them almost fell out of the air just from gazed at this beast. Of which was far larger and more terrifying than anything they had seen up to this point.

"Um...guys?" Sora started while gulping down, despite her throat going dry from nervousness.

"Y-Yeah?" the pair responded with in near unison as none of them took their eyes of this being.

"You know how I usually like to try fighting these big 'bad guy' types on my own?" she asked while summoning her Keyblade quickly.

"Yeah?" they muttered together, all of them still looking at the beast.

"I don't think I wanna do that this time." Sora finished, to which her free hand trembled briefly before she clenched it tightly.

"I don't think any of us would." Donald added as he gave a slow nod in agreement to the teen's words.

"Gawrsh...I wonder if this guy is that 'Chernabog' feller?" Goofy muttered silently, causing the brown-haired girl to finally look away from the enormous creature and turn to her friend.

"You know this thing?!" she asked in shock before almost yelping in fright when Chernabog let out an ear splitting roar.

"Only some things that I've heard and read about him. Though...I'm only assuming this is Chernabog since he fits the descriptions from the books pretty much perfectly." the dog said as the three quickly flew back and away from the beast.

"I think I recall reading something about him in the castle libraries too." Donald said with a slow nod to Goofy.

"According to most, if not all of the books, Chernabog is a being of pure evil that was given form on the top of a mountain. Though information about him or his deeds are vague, his appearance was one thing that every book remained consistent with." the anthropomorphic duck stated before he ended up gulping down.

"Although, there was a book that spoke of him being banished to another dimension with the combined efforts of Yen Sid and countless other mages, including Merlin and King Mickey." the duck added as he briefly glanced to the two next to him.

"That's right. But..." Goofy started once more, yet he didn't need to finish as his feathered friend did so for him.

"...who would have thought that 'this' was the place he was banished to." Donald spoke silently as each of them slowly turned their gaze back to Chernabog.

"Well...since we're here now..." Sora started as she slowly took on a small smirk, to which she briefly glanced to her friends.

"...lets finish what they started." the teen finished in a confident voice, as to show that she wasn't going to give up.

This made Donald and Goofy blink to her before taking on their own smirks; "Yeah!" they called out in unison while bringing their weapons out.

"His power has got to be limited anyway since he's been here for so many years!" the duck claimed while pointing his mage staff at Chernabog.

Whom was just standing within the mountain with his arms crossed, him not even seeming to be thinking of the three as a threat. Yet as they all charged toward him, his wings spread out wide and made a single flap through the air. This action sending the trio backward many yards before finally being able to stop themselves.

Sora ground her teeth and glared at the beast, yet she quickly began to tremble in fear the moment she heard laughter. But it wasn't any sort of normal laughing, it was dark, cruel, cold and utterly terrifying. As if the demon's voice alone would swallow them all and trap them in a never ending void of darkness and fear. Of which made much of the trio's confidence quickly leave them, allowing even more doubt to plague their minds. All the while, they each slowly began to sink toward the abyss below them, each of their 'happy thoughts' starting to vanish from their minds.

'Okay...this might be tougher than expected.' Sora thought to herself while trying to gulp down, yet her throat and mouth had gone dry out of sheer terror.

Though as she looked over to her friends, she noticed that they were having the same reaction as her. This caused the teen to briefly snap out of her trance of fright as Sora's mind began to work in overdrive. 'Fear is an emotion that everyone handles differently. No matter how terrified someone is, it'll always be slightly different compared with someone else.' she began as her eyes slowly narrowed on Chernabog.

'Yet we're all having the same reaction, without even the smallest hint of difference. So either we're just very similar in how we react to things...or the fear that we're feeling is being forced upon us by some kind of magic.' the brown-haired girl continued, to which he gaze slowly became a bit more confident.

'But...considering that we're dealing with the embodiment of evil, I'm thinking that it's the latter. And so long as that's true...' she thought while shifting her body in a more battle-ready pose.

"...then it's simply a trick to keep us scared of fighting back." Sora stated aloud in a firm tone, this signaling the other two of her discovery.

But while it took a few moments for them to focus their minds away from the fear, the teen was already flying at top speed toward Chernabog. Her Keyblade ready to attack as she swung it from the side, to directly out in front of her. This bringing a large ball of concentrated dark energy to the tip of her weapon, which was shot at great speed directly into the face of her opponent. Whom jerked his head back upon being hit as neither of his arms seemed to move fast enough to block the attack.

"He's not as strong as we feared!" Sora called out while flying up and out of Chernabog's reach.

"That terror is part of his magic! He must be using it in order to deter us from fighting him since he isn't at full power!" she continued, which caused the pair to almost instantly snap out of their trance.

Upon looking at the growling beast before them, they slowly gained confident smirks and flew toward him as well. Yet, even after trying to swing a fist at the pair, Chernabog's punch missed them both and allowed the two to attack him head on. Donald used a powerful blizzard spell that froze both of the demon's eyes shut and caused it to roar out in pain from the extreme cold. All the while, Goofy began spinning himself around before flying at great speed right into Chernabog's forehead.

This caused the burned-black creature to reeled backward from the force and pain, to which it gave Sora the opening she needed. Said teen gathered a great amount of dark power around her Keyblade while flipping it in a reverse grip. 'It's clear that we're not fighting him at his full power, but right now...that worked to our advantage. I dread a day he could be released from this place and have to fight him for real.' she thought just before throwing her weapon down at Chernabog.

Upon contact, the huge beast roared out in pain once more before falling from the mountain and into the abyss below. But while each of the three watched this, they were rather surprised to not hear any sort of collision with the ground. This bringing the idea into their minds that this place really was just an endless void. Though upon considering these thoughts, they then saw that the mountain itself had an opening on the top where Chernabog had been.

Just like a volcano, the mountain had a deep hole that had what appeared to be cooling lava inside. Yet as the trio unconsciously flew down toward this, they noticed a set of pink colored doors on a platform. These being just to the side of the center, yet once Donald and Goofy saw it, they both just glanced to the other exactingly. Neither of them seeming to wanting to be the first one to check out the area Chernabog himself had just been.

"After you." Donald said to Goofy with a nervous tone and smile.

"N-No no...that's alright, you can go first." was the dog's response as he gulped down with the same nervousness as his friend.

"Well...um...ladies first." the duck said quickly while looking to Sora and gesturing her to the portal in a chivalrous manner.

The teen raised a brow to the pair before huffing silently; "Oh sure, now you suddenly take into account that I'm a girl." she muttered with a roll of her eyes.

Though she quickly turned her attention back to the doors as they looked exactly like the ones she had seen in her 'dream'. However, her thoughts about this were interrupted by the bellowing roar of Chernabog below them. It being clear that he was likely climbing his way back up the mountain for revenge, which made the three look to one another. "I'll go first!" they called out in unison and flew down to he portal.

Them doing this at the same time Chernabog came into view as he already reached the peak using his enormous wings. Yet he wasn't fast enough to stop them from getting through the slowly opening doors as they instantly vanished without a trace. This sudden loss caused the demon to roar out in rage and frustration, the very air around him vibrating as if trembling in fear of him.

All the while, the trio found themselves flying through complete darkness, as if they had just fallen into the abyss. But after a few moments of flying, they were then greeted by a blinding light that revealed a new world before them. Though this place was only new to two of the three, the third knew it as; 'home'.

"My island." Sora whispered out in shock as she looked around the beach she had gotten to know so well over the course of her life.

"But...how? My world was swallowed up by the darkness." she continued silently, to which she took a few steps forward.

"This world has been connected." Ansem's voice suddenly echoed out all around them, causing the three to quickly look around with their weapons at the ready.

"Tied to the darkness...soon to be eclipsed." his voice continued, which made Sora blink a few times as she quickly recognized these words from her very first meeting the the hooded figure.

"You do not yet know, what lies beyond the door." were the words that followed the disappearance of the small piece of land that Sora, Riku and Kairi would play on.

"Hmph, there is so much to learn...and yet you still understand so little." immediately after this, another section of the island simply vanished without a trace.

"A meaningless effort." came just before the blue ocean water became purple and then evaporated in an instant.

"One who knows nothing can understand nothing." these were the final words as the edges of the remaining island seemed to crumble slightly and leave everything in ruin.

But after a brief glance around to this newly changed area, each of the three quickly noticed a male figure at one of the edges. Him having long white hair, as well as the three spikes on the top and sides of his head. He wore silver-white gloves on his hands, each with a grey band on the wrist and three black buttons lining one side that protruded outward. There were black pauldrons on either of his shoulders, each attached to his coat by two straps.

Said coat appeared to be made of black leather that had red on the inside, as well as had yellow lining.

While it also had a large grey section that covers the lower half and shoulders, this part seemed to be attached by several small buttons around the hip and neck. This coat was also high-collared while being completely unzipped, which showed a second, shorter jacket underneath. Of which was white and high-collared much like the outer one. Lastly, the figure had on a pair of black pants and similarly color knee-high boots, which had silver lining.

"Take a look at this tiny place." he spoke out, his voice being the same as the one before, yet it did not echo this time.

"To the heart seeking freedom...this island is a prison, surrounded by water." he continued, his tone sounding almost amused the further her carried on.

"So this boy sought to escape from his prison...to cross over into other worlds. And so he opened his heart to darkness. How very fitting for such a child, wouldn't you agree?" the man laughed out while turning around to face the three as they slowly made their way toward him.

Though upon closer inspection, they saw the man's orange-yellow colored eyes and tan skin. Yet it was the cruel and rather unpleasant smirk that curled his lips that each of them noticed the most. However, Sora just took an extra step forward and narrowed her gaze on the man. "What did you do with Riku, Ansem?" she demanded in a low growl, to which she tightened her grip around the Keyblade.

"Hmph...there is no sense in telling you. Your voice can no longer reach him where he is anyway." Ansem claimed as he crossed his arms and just looked back at the teen in confidence.

"His heart belongs again to darkness." he continued while gesturing to the side with his head is if the darkness itself with in that direction.

"Well then...if you won't tell me..." Sora started as her body took on a black aura, to which she closed her eyes.

Despite looking at her with an unimpressed expression, his eyes soon widened slightly as if in surprise when the teen's eyes snapped open. This revealing them to be a glowing yellow, yet her pupils were slits rather than round. "...I'm going to make you."

* * *

 ***Sigh* This took a lot out of me. I was second guessing myself the whole way through. I wasn't sure if I should have just extended the fight with Chernabog and end it just before they arrived in Destiny Islands, or if I should have made the fight last through the whole chapter and end it on a cliff hanger. But I think 'this' was the best choice since I have much bigger plans for Chernabog in the future, so I think it'll be better to keep his segment here short. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed and will let me know what you thought in a review. Seriously...I only got two for the last one 0.o So, until next time everyone.**


	48. End of the World part III

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 48: End of the World part III

Upon seeing the change in the teen's eyes, Ansem unconsciously clenched his hands into fists as he readied for the inevitable fight. However, nothing prepared him for the actions Sora had taken next as she took a step forward.

As she did so, the brown-haired girl slowly looked at the man in front of her with a small smirk on her features. All the while, she tossed her Keyblade into the air and vanished the moment Ansem took his gaze off of her. Instantly following this, the teen appeared before of the silver-haired man and hit him in the stomach with a powerful palm. This nearly shattering two of his ribs as his eyes went wide in both pain and shock.

Though, immediately following this strike, Ansem was send sliding backward across the shattered pieces of the beach. Yet Sora was already behind him, to which she caught her weapon and slammed it with all her strength into her opponent's back. The combined forces of her swing and his momentum going backward put tremendous strain on Ansem's back as he was sent flying forward now.

Even as Sora followed after him in nothing but a black blur, all she did was repeat the same two words in her mind over and over. 'Precision...control.'

But during all of the girl's attacks, both Donald and Goofy simply stared in surprise as they could neither believe what they were seeing, or even follow Sora's attacks. Of which, were still far from over as the teen rushed at Ansem. Whom had managed to regain his senses and notice his opponent's incoming attack. This lead for him to hold out a hand as if to counter whatever the teen intended to do.

However, he never got the chance as Donald shot a Thundaga spell at his face after shaking off the initial shock. Which not only hurt him, but also blinded him of Sora's Keyblade being thrown into his chest. Upon contact, a blast of darkness bursted from the weapon and knocked Ansem backward once more. Yet he didn't get the chance to hit the trees behind him as Goofy deflected the man's body off of his shield and into the air.

While Ansem finally recovered from the blinding effect in midair, it didn't help to see Sora's next attack soon enough. Said teen having met with him half way and placed a hand to his chest and glared at him heavily. "Feel like talking yet?" was all she asked before sending a wave of dark power through her opponent.

This causing Ansem to cough out the only air in his lungs before being engulfed in black flames. But it was likely the impact with the ground that hurt him the most, as it cracked the remaining island heavily. All the while, a surge of darkness rippled outward from his crash, which had increased the collision itself. Though, as Donald and Goofy walked up to either side of the teen, they seemed to keep a small distance. Sora still having a black aura around her as she and the other two stared at the crater covered in a thick veil of dirt.

"Very well then." Ansem spoke up as he came walking out of the cloud of dust, mostly unharmed from the recent attacks.

"Your friend is in the same place your Keyblade comes from." he continued while pointing toward said weapon.

"Once I gained enough of his strength to form my own body, I simply discarded his. So his heart and body are in the Realm of Darkness, likely to never be seen again." the man stated with a short, yet menacing chuckle.

"After all...every world begin in darkness, and all so end." Ansem said, to which he took a few steps closer to the three.

"The heart is no different. Darkness sprouts within it, it grows and consumes it." he continued while stopping just a few feet away and smirked in a knowing, yet rather twisted way.

"Such is its nature. Cause in the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came. For you see, darkness is the heart's true essence." the silver-haired man finished, his smirk turning to a cruel and almost insane-like smile.

"Hmph...what utter non-sense." Sora began in a voice that made it sound as though she were spitting out poison from her mouth.

"If the heart was born in darkness, then there would be no light to begin with. Your words are completely ridiculous." she claimed, to which she pointed her Keyblade toward the man.

"Besides...there is always a light in every heart that never goes out, no matter how many times it falls to darkness." the teen finished with a confident gaze in her eyes, as if now that she knew where Riku was, she could save him.

"So, you have come this far and still you understand nothing. Every light must fade, every heart return to darkness!" Ansem declared as he suddenly began floating in the air.

All the while, he crossed his arms and radiated a massive amount of dark power around him. Though, as the trio watched this, they saw how the middle of the island split apart and created a large pit. This being made up of the inside of the isle and took on a strange purple hue. Upon making this, Ansem flew toward the center and seemed to just wait for the trio. However, when following him, only Sora made it there as a barrier flashed right before the other two could reach the crater.

"Don't want any interruptions." Ansem claimed with a small smirk, to which he suddenly started to let out an almost painful groan.

Yet before Sora could question what was happening, the appearance of a black figure answered this for her. The creature itself had an ink-black, muscular, humanoid form with a partially bandaged head that sported relatively human-like features. It had yellow eyes that gleamed above a mouth filled with sharp teeth, as well as two long antennae spouting from the top of its head. Though there was a heart-shaped hole in its torso, there were many bandages surrounding its chest just above it. Lastly, the creature had very large hands, and its torso came to a tail-like point that faded into Ansem's back.

"Surprised?" the silver-haired man asked silently, his smirk widening slightly as the teen looked at this figure with narrowed eyes.

"This is the finished product of something you helped me to create." he continued as he chuckled silently while looking to the girl.

Whom narrowed her eyes further as they shifted from the creature, to the man it was hovering behind. "What are you talking about?" she demanded while shifting into a fighting pose.

"Hmph...whether you live to see it for yourself is up for debate." was all Ansem retorted before the being behind him created a large ball of darkness between its hands.

This orb immediately being launched toward the teen, whom jumped and rolled off to the side to dodge it. Upon doing so however, Ansem had appeared directly beside her and had his 'Guardian' swing one of its fists down at her. Yet the girl had already vanished as she landed on one of the walls, her being horizontal to the ground as she kept her gaze on her opponent the whole time.

Though Ansem heard her feet hitting the surface, he instantly swung one of his hands out toward her. His action forming multiple discs of air to come flying toward the teen at great speed, to which they sliced through the very ground the moment they even got close. But Sora herself moved out of the way from each of these with almost expert timing as her mind remained completely focused. The girl once again repeating the same two words in her thoughts, as if to continue making sure that she didn't make a mistake.

After dodging all of these discs, Ansem narrowed his eyes in a bit of frustration, to which his Guardian swung its arms out. This action created a stream of dark power rushing in two parallel lines across the ground. Both of which came toward the teen as she just stood completely still, to which both these torrents of power passed by either side of her.

Ansem ground his teeth and even bared them slightly out of much clearer frustration, to which he held one of his hands out once more. "I will have you submit to the Darkness!" he yelled while the creature behind him suddenly flew in close to her.

Once it was near enough, the Guardian swung its fists at the brown-haired teen in quick succession. Of which took Sora off her balance as she jumped backward to avoid each of these attacks. However, this was all Ansem needed as he seemed to teleport to the side and blasted a huge wave of dark energy at her. Yet even while looking to this with wide eyes, the focus never left her gaze as her mind just kept repeating; precision and control.

As soon as the attack collided with the earth, it created a large explosion that further cracked the island apart. However, after the dirt cloud diminished, it revealed for there to be nothing left in the spot the darkness hit. This making Ansem take on a smirk and chuckle silently to his victory; "Hmph...looks like you couldn't handle the power of Darkness." he claimed with a louder chuckle.

"Maybe not..." Sora spoke up from behind him as she smirked lightly, yet it was clear from her posture that she had done something a bit straining on her body.

"...but I certainly have to be better than you." she finished while her smirk began a small grin, to which she formed an orb of darkness around herself.

This making Ansem's eyes widen briefly as it was clear she used something similar to create a make-shift barrier in order to avoid taking damage from his attack. Yet this only served to make him even more angry as he landed on the ground and slammed his fist into the dirt. "I will crush you!" he declared as the entire area became dark and the Guardian seemed to vanish into the shadows.

But after a quick glance around, Sora had guessed what was going to happen, to which she began running toward Ansem himself. Said man bared his teeth slightly at the girl as he immediately knew she figure out what kind of attack he would unleash. Though it would be too late for the teen as the ground all around the silver-haired man glowed a dark purple hue.

A split second later, a gigantic pillar of darkness erupted from the earth, the only safe area being in the exact spot Ansem himself was kneeling. Whom just glanced around for a moment once the darkness calmed, him looking for any and all signs of the teen. Which was quickly found as the burned remnants, of what appeared to be part of the girl's jacket, were seen just a couple feet to his right. Yet while he couldn't see any other remains of Sora, he didn't bother standing up until his Guardian returned to him from the ground.

"So then...has the Keyblade wielder finally met her match?" he asked while turning around to look at Sora.

The brown-haired girl herself was breathing heavily, her body appearing to be uninjured. However, her skin was slowly transforming back to its normal color as it had become mostly black. "Not quite...I'm pretty sure I owe that honor to the guy I met in Hollow Bastion." she said silently with a small smirk, to which she brushed off a few burned pieces off her clothes and tore away her ruined jacket.

Her now showing that the red undershirt was sleeveless and that she had visible tan-lines where the shirt's fabric ended. "You know...that was my favorite jacket." Sora continued while readying to fight once more.

"I'm gonna have to make you pay for that." she finished before vanishing, to which Ansem growled in frustration and began unleashing attack upon attack in every direction possible.

This destroying the landscape piece by piece as Sora continued to dodge out of the way and even find openings to exploit. Her moving in quickly and making a quick strike before escaping in a random direction. But while her own attacks did little against the silver-haired man, he started to become more and more tired from the constant assault.

"You little worm! You can't run from me forever!" Ansem yelled just before he was hit across the face by the teen's Keyblade.

Though it normally would have felt like a mere flick to him, due to his weakened state, it felt like being smacked by a hammer. This nearly dislocating his jaw as his gaze quickly shifted toward Sora, whom just continued to flee from side to side in completely random intervals. "Tch...you'll pay for that." he growled out while lifting his hands up into the air.

"I will finish you off in one of the places where the darkness is at it's greatest potential!" Ansem continued as the area became black once more.

Although, unlike before, there was nothing entirely menacing about these shadows as they even swallowed up Donald and Goofy. Yet within moments, each of the three felt a falling sensation and lead for them to use their ability to fly once more. Though once they did, they noticed that there was no light whatsoever around them. At the same time however, they could not only see each other, but also huge white doors out in the distance.

"Behold..." Ansem's voice echoed out as said man came into view many yards away as his body appeared to be taking on a black aura, yet in the darkness, it was difficult to be sure.

"...the endless abyss!" he continued while waving his hand out to the area around them.

"Within, lies the heart of all worlds: Kingdom Hearts!" the silver-haired man declared, to which he then turned and pointed toward the large white doors.

"Look as hard as you are able." he said as his body began hovering toward the trio.

All of whom readied themselves to fight, yet soon watched in shock as his body began to change. 'He's absorbing the nearby darkness into his body.' Sora thought quickly as her eyes narrowed slightly.

"You'll not find even the smallest glimmer of light!" were the man's words as he seemed to grow in size.

"From those dark depths are all hearts born!" Ansem continued, his voice sounding slightly distorted.

"Even yours." he finished while summoning a weapon that appeared as if he had taken two of Riku's blade and placed them on either end of a black staff.

After seeing this, Sora glared at the man for a moment, yet delayed any attack as she could feel the immense power coming off of him. However, this made her blink briefly and look down to her free hand; 'Wait a minute...if he could absorb it, I should be able to do the same.' she thought quickly while taking on a wide grin.

"Well then...I assume you brought us here because you were running low on power?" she asked as the black aura around her unnoticeably increased.

"Hmph...I could have crushed you with my power before, I merely wished to do so here in the place where I shall claim Kingdom Hearts!" Ansem stated as he spun his weapon around to prepare for a fight.

"Actually, you probably could have." Sora said with a shrug of her shoulders and smiled lightly.

"I was almost completely drained of my power back there, but I figured that I'd just wear you down enough to my level so that we could fight evenly." she continued, to which the silver-haired man's eyes widened slightly as he realized his mistake.

"But now that you've brought us to a place where our dark powers are at their most powerful...it looks like I can just cast that plan away and finish you off in one go." the teen stated, to which Ansem quickly appeared before her with his weapon swinging down.

Yet before he could make contact, Sora had formed a barrier of darkness around her and her friends. "I was told by Maleficent that despite my powers being incredibly strong, I lacked the precision and control to truly capitalize on it. And while I might not be able to fully develop those qualities for quite a while, I think it's time for me to just let loose and see just what I'm truly capable of." she said, all during Ansem continuing to slash and stab the barrier over and over again with enormous strength.

"After all...she said that my attacks are devastating so long as I hit my target. So I'm going to make sure that I'm going to hit you with everything I've got." Sora finished as a second barrier developed around not only the trio, but also the still attacking Ansem.

Though, once he saw this, the man quickly glared at the teen and attempted to escape. However, the moment he tried to touch the other barrier, he was knocked backward by an immense darkness. This lead for him to turn back to the brown-haired girl and growl out his next words. "You think you can defeat me?! I can absorb the darkness just as much as you can!" he declared while taking in more and more power, yet it suddenly stopped.

"W-What? What is this?!" he demanded the moment he felt his power stop rising.

"You've reached your capacity." Sora muttered with a small grin.

"Merlin taught me that all mages have a specific limit to the amount of magic they can contain inside of themselves. I figured that after my first test with my dark powers, the darkness has a similar effect." she continued while shrugging, to which Ansem pointed his weapon at the teen.

He then generated a huge amount of black energy into a condensed ball at the tip of the blade and fired it at the barrier. However, the trio and dark barrier around them just vanished instantly before the attack could hit.

"Then why is your power still rising?!" the man demanded as he truly seemed confused about this fact.

"Hmm...'why' indeed." the teen muttered out in a rather teasing tone before shrugging.

"Because unlike you..." she continued while lifting her hands up slightly, which revealed her holding her friends' hands.

"...I have my friends here to help me." Sora finished with a soft smile to the pair as they gave her a nod.

Immediately following this, Ansem's eyes widened just before the barrier around the three expanded at the same time as the second one shrunk. Once they collided with one another and the silver-haired man, a huge explosion of darkness flooded the area. Yet Sora, Donald and Goofy remained completely unharmed as they floated in the abyss silently. Each of them looking to the other with a wide, and victorious smile.

"Thanks you guys, I really couldn't have done it without you." Sora whispered as it had been the pair that grasped her hands in the midst of her absorbing more power.

"Well...we're friends. We'll always have each other's backs, right?" Goofy said with a wider smile as both Donald and the brown-haired girl nodded their heads in agreement.

Though their happy moment was soon broken when they heard Ansem's voice echo out silently. "It's futile."

* * *

 **Whew...it's almost over, just a little bit more and we've reached the end of KH I. It's been a wild ride and I hope you're all still enjoying. Let me know in a review. ;) Until next time.**


	49. End of the World part IV

**Sorry for posting this a bit late, I don't really have much of an excuse other than the fact that it was so freaking hot today that I had no energy to finish the editing part. So I hope you can forgive me for that. ^^' By the way, this isn't a very long chapter since it was one that I already planned out of where I'd end it long ago and it turned out to be rather close to where the last one ended. Also, the next chapter will likely be even shorter since I still want to extend the first Kingdom Hearts game to the full 50 chapters. So anyway, I hope you all enjoy.**

* * *

 **Inverted Sky**

Chapter 49: End of the World part IV

"It is futile." Ansem began as he hovered weakly in the air.

Sora and the other two narrowed their gaze upon him, to which the man returned their gaze with a glare. "The Keyblade alone cannot seal the door to darkness." he continued while placing a hand to his stomach, it being clear that he was too weak to absorb any of the darkness around him.

"Therefore...you cannot win!" the man claimed with a finger pointed toward them, to which he gasped for breath and bent over in pain immediately afterward.

"Kingdom Hearts!" Ansem called out, him straightening himself out and reaching toward the white door in the distance.

"Fill me with the power of darkness...supreme darkness!" he yelled, his form seeming to slowly fade away like the Heartless the trio fought against.

Though after the silver-haired man's words, Sora just took on a small smirk and crossed her arms. "Like I told you before...your words are completely ridiculous. It's pretty clear if you know anything about the heart of people, that Kingdom Hearts...is light." she stated in a knowing way, even as a flood of darkness seeped through the doors when they began to open.

But within less than a second, the darkness suddenly disbursed to give way to a blinding and overwhelming light. This causing Ansem to gasp in surprise and pain, his body continuing to vanish the whole time. "L-Light? Bu-But why?" was the last thing he spoke before the light surrounded him and destroyed the rest of his body.

Upon seeing this, the trio just blinked a few times in response before grinning and cheering out victoriously. "We won!" they announced happily, to which they fist pumped the air and high-fived each other's hands.

But after a few moments, they quickly turned to the doors when the presence of a great many Heartless was felt beyond them. This caused the three to look to one another and clear their throats in a sheepish way; "We should probably close that." Sora said, to which her two friends nodded and muttered their agreements.

As soon as they flew down to the piece of land the tall white doors rested on, they quickly rushed toward them in order to close both sides. Yet along the way, Sora paused in her steps and looked at the blackness on the other side of the door. The teen starting to feel a strange pull toward it, but she couldn't figure out why until the Keyblade suddenly appeared in her hand without her calling.

The moment she saw this, she slowly gained a small, yet knowing smirk on her features. "I see...so 'that's' how it is." she whispered silently with a slow nod of her head.

Yet Sora was brought out of her thoughts as Donald and Goofy called out to her to help them close the door. Though before she could, she suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from behind her. "Sora!"

Immediately after turning around, the brown-haired teen took on a wide smile when Kairi came floating down within one of Merlin's bubbles. Said wizard following soon after, along with the rest of the group from Traverse Town. "Kairi..." the brown-haired girl spoke silently back as both teens reunited near the edge of the floating island.

"Guess the fight is already over, huh?" Kairi asked with a small smile, yet it was evident to her friend that she wanted to be part of the action.

"Looks that way, but I'm sure we'll have plenty more interesting stuff further along our adventures." Sora responded with an even wider smile, but there was a hint of rush in her voice.

Something of which the auburn-haired girl picked up on as she tilted her head to the side slightly in question. "You make it sound like our adventures are still a thing of the future." she began while raising a suspicious brow at her friend.

"Are you planning on going somewhere?" she continued, to which the other teen just offered her a signature smile.

"I'm gonna have to...but I'll definitely come back." Sora stated as she winked and gave the other girl a thumbs up.

This made Kairi blink a few times before sighing heavily in response; "Well...I guess we can put our adventure on hold for now. We're supposed to do it together after all, right?" she said with the obvious hint toward Riku being with them.

Sora nodded her head in agreement to her words, to which she glanced toward the large doors as the Traverse Town group began helping to shut the doors. Though the brown-haired teen soon felt a hand on her shoulder, she didn't bother turning around as she simply listened to Merlin's words.

"It will be a perilous journey the moment you go through those doors. But as long as you keep your light burning bright, you can make it back." was all she heard from the man before Kairi took her own turn to speak.

"And to make sure it does..." the girl began as she took Sora's free hand into her own and placed an object into it.

"...I'm giving you my lucky charm. Now you have to come back in order to return it to me, right?" she halfway demanded as the other teen turned to look at her friend.

"No matter where you are, no matter where you go..." Kairi continued while giving Sora's hand a gentle squeeze; "...I'm always with you."

The brown-haired girl blinked many times to this before grinning widely with a nod, to which she placed the charm in her pocket and rushed off toward the doors. "I'll come back...I promise!" she called out as she ran as fast as she could through the doors.

Upon her words, the auburn-haired teen smiled softly and gave her friend a wave. Though, even with the whole group of people pushing the doors, they were still partly open even after Sora made it through. Once she was on the other side however, she was met by a great many Heartless that swarmed around her. This made her whistle silently and ready her Keyblade; "This is gonna be one heck of a journey." she whispered to herself and rushed toward the first few opponents.

Sora slashed, kicked and even punched the Heartless as they continued to conjugate around her. But while she stayed busy with a large group of them, smaller ones were getting beyond the teen and pushing the doors back open. The group trying to close them quickly being overwhelmed by sheer numbers as the Heartless kept coming in vast numbers.

This caused the girl to quickly turn back to the door as one of the much larger creatures also made it there to help the smaller Heartless. Sora let out a sigh and rushed toward them, but didn't even get the chance to attack as they all vanished into black smoke. Of which made her blink a few times in response, yet the moment she saw Riku standing near the doors both teens took on a small smirk.

"Looks like you're still hopeless without me." he began while placing his weapon upon his shoulder.

"You can't even close a door without my assistance." the boy finished as Sora just chuckled lightly.

"Oh yeah? Lets see you put your skills where your mouth is." was all the girl said before the pair immediately began to fight back the Heartless swarm with ease.

All the while, the Traverse Town group managed to close one of the doors and was nearly finished with the other one. But by this point, most of the beasts of darkness had begun to flee from the two teens and allowed them to help with the last side of the door. However, Sora herself was barely paying any attention as she just kept glancing to Riku, her being happy that he was alright.

But just as the door was about to be closed, the teen pushed the silver-haired boy through to the other side. This made everyone blink in response as Riku jumped back up to his feet and looked at Sora through the slowly closing crack between the doors.

"Sora! What are you doing?! You can't be in there all on your own!" he called out with great worry for his friend.

"Oh please...as if I'd let you be in a place where there's nothing but darkness. You wouldn't last a day." she started with a smile on her features the whole time.

"Besides...one of us has to stay behind and keep her safe." the girl continued while sending a glance toward Kairi out in the distance.

Yet her gaze lingered a bit as she noticed a black-furred, anthropomorphic mouse come up beside her and Merlin. Though, it was the silver-colored Keyblade in his hand that mainly caught her attention. She then slowly shifted her eyes back to Riku, to which she took on a false-serious expression as she spoke her next words.

"Just don't try anything while I'm gone...I'm sharing the Paopu fruit with her the moment I get back!" she stated in a firm tone as the door was almost completely closed.

"Take care of her." she whispered in a soft tone as she regained her smile just before the doors sealed shut.

The moment they were, Sora slowly lifted her Keyblade up into the air and let out a heavy breath. Immediately following this, a bright beam of light shot into the air from her weapon at the same time the mouse's Keyblade did the same. This lead for a locking noise to be heard, just before the door had vanished completely from both sides.

Sora then opened her eyes and turned herself around, only to be met by yet another horde of Heartless coming toward her. "Oh~...looks like all of you want to rumble as well." she muttered out, to which she snapped her fingers to the side.

Her actions bringing forth the two smaller Heartless on either side of her, while the larger one appeared directly behind the teen. "Alright guys...lets test our team work!" she called out while taking on a wide grin and charged forward.

This signaled the teen's Heartless to follow her lead as the opposing creatures rushed toward them. Sora letting out a battle cry while unleashing her full power upon her opponents along with the trio of Heartless that supported her. However, would there ever be an end to this journey through the Realm of Darkness? For Sora...her fate was left a mystery as she could only think about fulfilling her oath.

'I'll come back...I promise.'

* * *

 **Alright, and there you have it. The next chapter will be the end of KH I, which will lead immediately into Chain of Memories. ;) Also...the next chapter might be out sooner than the usual full week wait. If it is, then chapter 51 will be posted next week Saturday as it shouldn't take very long to write chapter 50. But if it's not, then I'll just post the next two chapters on the same day rather than making you guys wait a full week again. ;) Anyway, I hope everyone is still enjoyed this story. Let me know in a review and if you still haven't left one yet...come on, join the club...we've got milk and cookies. ;D Until next time.  
**


	50. The Realm of Darkness

**Inverted Sky**

Chapter 50: The Realm of Darkness

On and on she walked.

On and on she fought.

Hoping that there would be something at the finish of this never ending, forever branching path she moved across. Yet the further Sora traveled, the less of a grasp on time she could feel. The only thing she knew was that, somewhere along the line, she regained her ability to use magic. But how long ago had it been?

An hour?

A day?

A week?

Nothing seemed to make sense. Nothing seemed to matter. All that there was in this place, was her and the infinite road under her feet.

Not even the abyss below changed, as it produced the constant fear of what might happen upon falling into it's depths. Could it lead to the way out? Or would it just be a never ending oblivion for those who entered.

However, while the brown-haired teen continued to walk on, she just kept her gaze down at the ground. The girl having started off with her head held high, yet slowly but surely crumbled down. It coming to the point that she could only manage a glance around the area, but only when something other than her moved. This usually being a stray Heartless that didn't even bother her whatsoever.

Unlike at the beginning, the creatures of darkness swarmed around the girl over and over again to weaken her enough to overtake the teen's heart. But they failed every time, especially when she would call forth the three Heartless who obeyed her. Though, it was the fact that she had her head down that she didn't notice the impending doom that awaited her until it was too late.

Despite Sora having a slight glazed look in her eyes, she quickly noticed the fact that the path in front of her suddenly ended. This making her blink a few times and finally lift her head to look around. The area itself was completely empty, as no other paths could be seen, save for her own. Of which stretched on for as long as the eye could see in the opposite direction.

The brown-haired teen looked back briefly before taking a few steps forward until she was right at the edge of the path. "Is...Is this the end?" she spoke up in a near whisper, as if she hadn't spoken for many days.

As she glanced around once more, the girl felt a tightening in her chest as she pulled Kairi's charm from her pocket. Even though she didn't look it over when first receiving it, she had done so a great many times along her travels through the darkness. Sora doing so one more time as she took in a deep breath and spoke up once more.

"Kairi...lend me your light." she said silently as she examined the small, drawn-on face on one of the five white sea shells that made up the star-shaped charm.

After muttering this, the teen slowly closed her eyes and simply stepped off the edge of the path. The girl slowly falling into the abyss as the darkness swallowed her up completely. However, with a brief flash of light from the charm, the teen almost seemed to escape the clutches of the overwhelming darkness. Yet it still never stopped her decent as Sora's eyes remained closed the whole time, just leaving her fate to the charm.

But even as the brown-haired girl kept falling, the light around her never faded until the darkness began to lift away. This slowly revealing a place of pure white, to which the next thing that Sora felt, was her feet touching a solid floor.

* * *

 **Alright, this is the end of the first Kingdom Hearts game. ;) I decided to go ahead and split up the games into their own stories, so the next chapter will be under the new 'Inverted Sky: KH Chain of Memories'. So this part of the story is officially finished, be on the look out for the next installment this Saturday. Unless you're reading this after it's already out, in which case...what are you waiting for? ;D Anyway, thank you all for your reviews and support. I hope that anyone who finds this story even after I've reached well into the series will still leave their thoughts about this part of the story in a review. I'm always interested in what others think of it. ^^ Until next time everyone.**


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